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Pasta Dough, Plain and Flavored I (P, TNT)
Source: Self
Serves: This makes about 1 lb. of pasta dough. This makes 4-6 servings of any particular pasta-type shapes. About 3-4 servings if you make it into macaroni-type shapes.

1 egg (optional, but good for texture and mouthfeel)
1 tbsp. oil (optional, same as above)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt (optional, same as above)
1/2 cup water

Water and flour amounts are approximate.

Puree liquids (inc. eggs) or mix by hand. Add dry ingredients. Dough should be firm and elastic and not too sticky. The key here is to get to know the feel of the dough. Adding pureed vegetables, you may need to decrease water or increase flour amounts.

Favorite flavors and ingredients:
Tomato-basil: 1 small (6-oz.) can tomato paste (not sauce) and the amount of basil you like; puree together and add as an ingredient when making the dough.

Mushroom-garlic: 5 or 6 good-sized "brown" mushrooms (here, I buy them in "cello-packs" in the produce section) and as much garlic as you think you would like (we like a lot of garlic!). Same directions as above.

Beet-black pepper: Roast or boil beets until tender (I use 2 small beets); if boiling, do NOT discard cooking water (which is a beautiful purple). Puree with 1-2 tbsp. ground black pepper (fresh-ground is good). Add to dough making.

Green onion-lemon: 4 medium-sized green onions, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tbsp. lemon rind. Puree all together and add to pasta dough.

Citrus-herb: 6 or 7 lemon balm leaves, approximately 1 tsp. lemon thyme, 1 tbsp. lemon basil leaves, 1 tbsp. lemon verbena leaves. I use fresh, but dried would probably work, too, just not give exactly the same flavor. Puree them with the liquid ingredients for the pasta dough. Add to dry ingredients.

Pumpkin-nutmeg: 1 cup of pureed pumpkin (fresh) and 1 tsp. ground nutmeg.

"Fiesta": 1/2 medium red bell pepper, 1/2 medium green bell pepper, 1 small Anaheim pepper. Puree them and add to pasta dough.

Other flavors I've used: Italian herb, black olive, carrot, chocolate, green pea (piselle), orange, potato, various types of flours, too: garbanzo, whole wheat, rye, semolina, cornmeal.

Posted by Debra Widera

Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A