This simple, healthy homemade rainbow pasta is naturally coloured (no food coloring here!) and a beautiful way to add the rainbow to your plate
It’s official; I love homemade pasta- who knew it was SO simple to make and customise?! Well, now I do, and I can’t recommend it enough. Especially this gorgeous all-natural rainbow pasta recipe – a simple, natural way to dye pasta and add extra nutrition to your next pasta dish. This can then be served warm, as usual, or as part of a beautiful rainbow pasta salad with mixed vegetables.
Plus, if you are in the mood for other fresh pasta, then you can check out my pappardelle floral pasta with pesto or Fresh Spinach Pasta.
The actual base recipe for this rainbow spaghetti is super simple too! With a base homemade pasta dough recipe of 1 cup 00 flour and one egg per colour of pasta (and per portion), it couldn’t be much simpler.
What’s even better is that this homemade rainbow pasta is coloured 100% naturally, using vegetables. However, you may be happy to find out that the vegetables don’t have a significant effect on the flavour. So even if you’re not a massive fan of beetroot or parsley, this shouldn’t affect your enjoyment of the dish. Even the flavours that are held in the pasta are super subtle and will be all but gone when combining with pasta sauce and other toppings.
The Coloured Pasta Recipe
The pasta base for each colour:
- 1 cup ’00’ grade pasta flour
- 1 Clarence Court Burford Brown egg
For the all-natural colours:
- Red Pasta: 1 boiled beetroot & 1 orange pepper/carrot (optional, it is used to lighten the redness of the beetroot)
- Orange Pasta: 1 roasted red pepper -OR- 1 boiled carrot
- Yellow Pasta: 1 roasted yellow pepper -OR- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder -OR- 1-2 fresh turmeric roots
- Green Pasta: 1 cup spinach leaves -OR- 1 cup parsley
- Purple Pasta: 1 cup boiled red cabbage & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (optional, used to adjust the saturation of the purple) -OR- 1-2 small baked purple potatoes
A simple dressing idea:
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or chopped finely)
- olive oil for sautéing
- black pepper to taste
The How-To
Start by preparing the different all-natural coloured pasta doughs. You can choose to go with only one colour or as many colours as you’d like. Just keep in mind that you have to add 1 cup of flour and 1 egg for each colour and per portion. You might also need to add a bit more flour to wetter ingredients (like the peppers) so that the dough is not sticky.
For the Red Pasta: For the red pasta, use 1 medium-sized boiled beetroot. You can also add some orange pepper or a boiled carrot to adjust the redness of the beetroot.
Blitz the egg, flour and veg in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough. It may be easier to blend the vegetables before adding them to your dough, so the dough is smooth faster.
Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Leave it to rest at room temperature (if wanting to save the dough for later then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge)
For The Orange Pasta: For the orange pasta, use 1 red pepper. You first need to roast it in the oven for 10-15 mins at 200C. Then blend and knead the same way as for the beetroot pasta.
Note: You might need to add a bit more flour as the pepper has high water content. We don’t want a sticky dough. Just add the flour as you blend.
For The Yellow Pasta: you can use either 1 roasted yellow bell pepper or turmeric (either powder or fresh root). If you choose to go with the pepper, you can also add a pinch of turmeric powder to make it a brighter yellow. Repeat the same process as above, blending, kneading and resting the dough. Add a bit more flour, if needed (as the yellow pepper is quite moist)
For The Green Pasta: Use either 1 cup of spinach or 1 cup of parsley. I tried both and each of them makes a great green colour. Repeat the same process of blending, kneading and resting.
For The Purple Pasta: You can use either 1 cup of boiled red cabbage or 1-2 baked purple potatoes. You can also add a pinch of baking powder to the cabbage to adjust the hues of purple.
Note: The purple colour will likely change a bit as the dough rests so let your dough rest for 30 minutes before proceeding with the next step.
and voila, you have your dough!
Time to roll the pasta dough
After the rainbow pasta dough has rested for about 30 minutes, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough till it is flat enough to feed into a pasta machine on level ‘0’. Continue feeding it through ‘0’, folding it in half then feeding it through repeatedly until a regular shape.Make sure to sprinkle lightly with flour to stop it from sticking. Then you can make it thinner with the machine.
-OR- If you use a rolling pin for the whole process, make sure to roll it out and stretch it into thin sheets.
Once you have obtained thin sheets of pasta dough, you can proceed with cutting it. I chose to cut it into long strips, like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle, but you can cut it in different shapes/sizes. Be generous with flouring the pasta, so it doesn’t stick together.To cut it into long strips, you just need to fold the pasta a couple of times and then just cut with a knife. Or, if you are using the pasta machine, choose one of its other settings for cutting.
To prepare the simple dressing, just chop the garlic cloves and sauté them in a bit of olive oil. It’s as simple as that! Alternatively, serve with a sauce of your choice.
To cook the all-natural coloured pasta, put it in boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, combine with the dressing and serve immediately. I chose to cook each colour separately so that the colours won’t mix (the red especially might seep through) but you can cook them all together.
Mix in with the sautéd garlic and sprinkle with pepper. Enjoy your delicious and gorgeous all-natural rainbow pasta!
You can also make this into a rainbow pasta salad with the addition of various vegetables including tomatoes, sweetcorn, olives etc.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below Also, I love seeing your recreations so feel free to tag me on Instagram @AlphaFoodie.
All-Natural Homemade Rainbow Pasta
Ingredients
The pasta base for each colour:
- 1 cup '00' grade pasta flour
- 1 Clarence Court Burford Brown egg
For the all-natural colours:
- Red: 1 boiled beetroot & 1 orange pepper/carrot optional, it is used to lighten the redness of the beetroot
- Orange: 1 roasted red pepper -OR- 1 boiled carrot
- Yellow: 1 roasted yellow pepper -OR- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder -OR- 1-2 fresh turmeric roots
- Green: 1 cup spinach leaves -OR- 1 cup parsley
- Purple: 1 cup boiled red cabbage & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder optional, used to adjust the saturation of the purple -OR- 1-2 small baked purple potatoes
Dressing suggestion:
- 2 garlic cloves minced (or chopped finely)
- olive oil for sautéing
- black pepper
Instructions
- Start by preparing the different all-natural coloured pasta doughs. You can choose to go with only one colour or as many colours as you'd like. Just keep in mind that you have to add 1 cup of flour and 1 egg for each colour and per portion). You might also need to add a bit more flour to wetter ingredients (like the peppers) so that the dough is not sticky.
RED PASTA:
- For the red pasta, use 1 medium-sized boiled beetroot. You can also add some orange pepper or a boiled carrot to adjust the redness of the beetroot.
- Blitz the egg, the flour and the veg in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough. It may be easier to blend the vegetables before adding them to your dough so the dough is smooth faster/easier.
- Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Leave it to rest.
ORANGE PASTA:
- For the orange pasta, use 1 red pepper. You first need to roast it in the oven for 10-15 mins.
- Blitz the egg, the flour and the red pepper in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough. *
- Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Leave it to rest.
YELLOW PASTA:
- For the yellow pasta, you can use either 1 roasted yellow pepper or turmeric (either powder or fresh root). If you choose to go with the pepper, you can also add a pinch of turmeric powder to make a brighter yellow.
- Blitz the egg, the flour and the yellow pepper or turmeric in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough. **
- Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Let it rest.
GREEN PASTA:
- For the green pasta, you can use either 1 cup of spinach or 1 cup of parsley. I tried both and each of them makes a great green colour.
- Blitz the egg, the flour and chosen green leaves in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough.
- Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Leave it to rest.
PURPLE PASTA:
- For the purple pasta, you can use either 1 cup of boiled red cabbage or 1-2 bakes purple potatoes. When using the cabbage, make sure to discard the water in which it boiled, we only need the leaves. You can also add a pinch of baking powder to the cabbage to adjust the hues of purple.
- Blitz the egg, the flour and chosen veg in a high-speed blender or food processor until you obtain a smooth dough.
- Knead the dough with your hands to form a smooth ball. If it sticks to your hands, add a bit of flour. Let it rest. ***
Shape the pasta
- After the rainbow pasta dough has rested for about 30 minutes, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough till it is flat enough to feed into a pasta machine on level ‘0’. Continue feeding it through ‘0’, folding it in half then feeding it through repeatedly until a regular shape. Make sure to sprinkle lightly with flour to stop it from sticking. Then you can make it thinner with the machine.
- -OR- If you use a rolling pin for the whole process, make sure to roll it out and stretch it into thin sheets.
- Once you have obtained thin sheets of pasta dough, you can proceed with cutting it. I chose to cut it into long strips, like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle, but you can cut it in different shapes/sizes.
- To cut it into long strips, you just need to fold the pasta a couple of times and then just cut with a knife. Or, if you are using the pasta machine, choose one of its other settings for cutting.
Cook the pasta
- To prepare the dressing, just chop the garlic cloves and sauté them in a bit of olive oil. It's as simple as that! Alternatively, serve with a sauce of your choice.
- To cook the all-natural coloured pasta, put it in boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, combine with the dressing and serve immediately. I chose to cook each colour separately so that the colours won't mix (the red especially might seep through) but you can cook them all together.
- Mix in with the sautéd garlic and sprinkle with pepper. Enjoy your delicious and gorgeous all-natural rainbow pasta!
Video
Notes
- * Note: You might need to add a bit more flour as the pepper has a higher water content. We don't want a sticky dough. Just add the flour as you blend.
- ** Note: If you are using the pepper, you might need to add a bit more flour as the pepper has a higher water content. We don't want a sticky dough. Just add the flour as you blend.
- *** Note: The purple colour will likely change a bit as the dough rests so let your dough rest for 30 minutes before proceeding with the next step.
Chantal
Would I be able to make several batches and the freeze the dough uncooked?
Support @ Alphafoodie
Hi Chantal.
Yes, you can freeze the dough uncooked for 2 months.
Ilene
Is there a way to make with out the egg?
Support @ Alphafoodie
Hi Ilene,
You can follow the steps to make this pasta (no eggs) https://www.alphafoodie.com/how-to-make-vegan-pasta-at-home/