Homemade pasta is quite an easy thing to accomplish. You may get a bit (or a lot) of flour all around your kitchen, but just take each step one at a time and have fun with it. I made three different pasta doughs: kale, carrot, and red beet. The flavor is subtle in the final product, and the color is just beautiful!
10 ounces (about 2 cups) all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
¼ cup vegetable juice (I used kale, carrot, and beet) *See Note if you do not have a juicer*
On a clean work surface mix the flour and salt. Then make a well in the middle and crack in the two eggs and carefully pour in the vegetable juice. Using a fork, start to mix the eggs and juice together, slowly adding in the flour that surrounds it until a rough dough is formed. Then start using your hands to form and knead the dough until it become a smooth ball (About 2-3 minutes of kneading). You may need to add more flour if too sticky or more juice if too dry. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Once chilled, cut the dough into four chunks and using one at a time, keeping the other pieces wrapped when not using. If you have a pasta machine, then go to town! Starting with the larger setting and working your way thinner and thinner. If you do not have a pasta machine, you can roll out the dough very thin, being careful to always add flour to both sides of the dough as needed, then cut into ¼ inch strips. Dust the pasta strands with plenty of flour to keep them from sticking together and let them rest in small heaps on a clean dish towel while finishing the other chunks of dough.
Meanwhile bring a large pot of water with salt to a boil. Also, in a large saucepan, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter with 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. Add in some salt and pepper and any fresh herbs that you have such as thyme or rosemary.
When your dough is formed into beautiful pasta strands, drop it into the boiling water, give it a quick mix, and set a timer for 2 minutes. When the noodles have cooked for 2 minutes, scoop them out of the cooking water and toss them into the butter/oil/herb pan along with a few ladles of the pasta cooking water. Pour it all into a serving bowl and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a few more sprinkles of olive oil and salt and pepper.
*Note: I used a fine grater, like a lemon zester, to shred my carrot and beet into a sieve set over a bowl and then pressed them through to collect their juice in a bowl. The kale I blended with a bit of water until it was juice-like.
