Pasta, Pretty Please

Book excerpt: The renowned pasta expert shares her secrets to creating colorful handmade noodles in this cookbook featuring fresh, all-natural recipes. In Pasta, Pretty Please, Linda Miller Nicholson delivers a stunning cornucopia of pasta in every color and shape, all created by hand using all-natural ingredients—and including twenty-five dough recipes, thirty-three traditional and modern shaping techniques, and the perfect fillings and sauces to make your creations sing! Linda starts with recipes for basic doughs before demonstrating how to use pigmented vegetables, fruits, spices, and superfoods to add a whole range of vibrant colors—such as mixing turmeric with parsley for just the right shade of chartreuse, or using activated charcoal powder to create black pasta. She also shows you how to roll out dough, cut and form many pasta shapes, and gives tips for retaining brilliant colors even when cooked. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll find recipes for more elaborate patterns and colors that are sure to impress your family and friends. Linda reveals how to layer colors to make multi-colored doughs in recipes like Rainbow Cavatelli, Polka Dot Farfalle, and even Emoji Ravioli. You’ll also find recipes for spectacular sauces and fillings, such as Golden Milk Ragu, Pecorino Pepper Sauce with Broccolini, Classic Ricotta Filling, and Pepperoni Pizza Filling.