Pasta Pretty Please: Salty Seattle Shares Her Colorful Pasta Process at Book Larder

Have I told you about the book store in Seattle that is only cookbooks? Can you think of anything more perfect for me? The store is called the Book Larder and it is a dream. Many cookbook authors that come into town, stop at the Book Larder to sign their inventory and if we're lucky, they do a demonstration. 

I attended one of their author nights in November and heard Linda of Salty Seattle talk about her success dyeing pasta with natural items like vegetables, herbs and flowers and the Instagram sensation that is rainbow pasta. 

When she does a demonstrations, she brings a variety of solid colored pasta dough balls with her so that she is ready to layer them together into stripes. She uses a small amount of vegetables pulverized with the eggs in a Vita-mix to incorporate the color into the dough. Have you ever heard of butterfly pea flowers? That is how Linda makes her dynamite shade of blue.

Linda sends the dough through a pasta sheeter to get each shade of pasta a uniform thickness. Then she cuts and lays down stripes of colors in a row and sends it through the sheeter again to create the pasta sheet itself. It is a relaxing process to watch and if you are interested in trying this yourself, be sure to buy her book, Pasta Pretty Please.

Cutting with a fluted pastry cutter creates the zigzag edge on each pasta square.

Practice makes perfect for making the perfect pinch in the center of each pasta square! This bow tie pasta is so cute and would charm any of your guests. The thinner you sheet the pasta (thin pasta cooks faster) and the sooner you cook it after making the dough, the brighter the colors will appear after cooking. 

If you're at all intrigued, you should try it! Thanks, Salty Seattle for the inspiration and thank you Book Larder for hosting this great evening. 

And remember, when you are browsing the incredible selection of cookbooks, be sure to check inside the cover. Your heart might just skip a beat when you see a famous signature.

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