Food prep and making is truly a creative experience. And delicious food quite delightful. Some foods even heavenly depending on how they are made, seasoned and served. Presentation too is indeed important. It is why I am so uplifted by an aromatic and well styled cup, glass, plate and/or bowl of food and drink that satisfies each of my senses.

Making homemade vegan pasta is so much fun. I absolutely enjoyed learning to make my own plant based pasta. My foodie community as always has been a BIG part of this endeavor. Some of us have shared videos or social media posts regarding our own processes of making homemade pasta either as first timers, beginners or seasoned food makers. I am in the “first timers” category, so, of course, it was quite helpful to me to watch instructional videos, read informative posts and see visual images of homemade pasta published by others before preparing my own vegan pasta dough.

As a “first timer” in the world of pasta making, I learned about the three best flours to use to make my vegan dough. The “00” flour is a finer, softer wheat flour allowing for a silkier dough and more tender pasta. The semolina flour is a coarse, harder wheat flour allowing for a dough used to make a firmer pasta. This dough helps to hold pasta shapes. All-purpose flour is a combination of soft and hard wheat flours used to make almost any kind of pasta. The flour I had on-hand and decided to use for my first “official” experience in pasta making was all-purpose wheat flour. The homemade spinach dough I made was mostly an experiment using fresh spinach and spelt flour mixed with bread flour. Albeit, my homemade spinach dough was quite a bright and impressive work of art, as well as, the perfect dough for creating individual pasta designs and shapes, I hadn’t rolled out my spinach dough thin enough to get the texture I would’ve been most pleased with (see spinach pasta swirls image above).

My first “official” experience in pasta making with the all-purpose wheat flour was exciting. Before beginning my dough prepping and making, I refreshed my mind with light reading and short tutorials. Once in the kitchen, I mixed together two cups of all-purpose wheat flour, approximately 1/2 cup of water and a sprinkle of salt, then kneaded my dough until I got a smooth and well-hydrated vegan dough ball. I cut my dough ball into smaller portions and added red beet root powder to one portion and kept the other portions separated for different kinds of pasta. I rolled each smaller portion into dough balls and let them sit covered for at least an hour. After the hour my smooth and well-hydrated vegan dough balls were ready to be rolled out. I sprinkled over the top of my wooden cutting board a light covering of flour. I then took my French roller and began pressing out my dough balls, one at a time, to the thickness recommended for pasta. When I had my thin sheets of pasta dough I used my cutters to cut my dough into circles and hearts and made small squares using other kitchen tools . I used the circles to create red beet pasta curls and for stuffed sweet potato pasta (see images above). I pressed designs into the edges of my hearts and squares to make them more decorative. My squares were then made into pasta blankets I could fill with sauce (see images below).

I loved the designs and shapes of my homemade vegan pasta. When I was done designing and shaping my dough I put the pasta into the refrigerator. Cooling the pasta helped to get the dough firmer. After a short while in the refrigerator, it was time to put my pasta into a boiling pot of water with a few pinches of salt added. I lightly stirred my pasta when first placed into the pot, stuffed pasta might require additional stirs. I left the pasta alone until each piece floated to the top of the boiling water. My pasta Al dente was ready to be paired with one of my homemade sauces. Which pasta will my family and I have for dinner on the first night… I decided on the red beet pasta curls for our first night. I thought this pasta would pair well with a homemade cheesy garlic sauce.

For dinner on our second night, I decided we would have the decorative pasta blankets and hearts. This pasta paired well with my homemade walnut pesto reduction and fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I saved my favorite pasta, the sweet potato stuffed pasta, for dinner on the third night. This pasta paired well with my homemade creamy and savory red sauce.

My family and I were sincerely happy with the homemade pasta dishes I prepared and served. The shapes and colors were fun and the textures and flavors were perfect. Coming up with sauces to compliment each variety of pasta also kept my creative energy flowing. Do I still consider myself a “first timer” in the world of pasta making… I can proudly say, I am heading toward a seasoned pasta maker. There’s more to learn, much more fun to have, many more creative ideas to work with and so many delightful pastabilities… Perhaps, you’ll learn to make your own homemade pasta too… and make it lots of fun and, of course, delicious… BIG SMILE…

We have the capacity and potential to always be a blessing in our own lives, in the lives of others and in this magical and magnificent world of ours…

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biashedo™ ~ My Universe Is Friendly… Inside and Out… And So Is Yours… The Macro… and The Micro… Grace… Love… Prosperity… Always sending forth light and love… :o)

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