DIY Rainbow Pasta

DIY Rainbow Pasta

Use natural food dyes to give this pasta a variety of colors, and shape it into fun bow-tie shapes. It’s a perfect project for a girls’ night in or a colorful dinner date!

Makes: 1 pound pasta
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 90 seconds
You will need: Pasta maker or rolling pin, fluted pasta roller (optional)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• All-natural food coloring (4 colors of your choice)
• Semolina flour, for dusting
• Sauce of your choice, such as Marinara or simple melted butter or cheese, warmed 

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and make a well in the flour mixture. Crack the eggs into the well and whisk with a fork, gradually whisking in the flour until the dough just comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a clean floured surface. Knead the dough a few times and add the olive oil one teaspoon at a time, kneading after each addition, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form a ball and cover it in plastic wrap. Let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into four pieces. Using gloves to protect your hands, smear 3–4 drops of one food color onto the top of one piece of dough. On a surface protected with a sheet of plastic, knead the color into the dough until smooth. Set that piece aside, and repeat with the remaining dough pieces.

Using a pasta machine or rolling pin, roll the pasta into thin rectangular sheets to about 1/8-inch thickness. Dust each sheet with semolina and cut the pasta into 1 1/2 by 1 inch pieces. Use a fluted pasta cutter to decorate the edges. Along the long side, pinch each rectangle in the middle firmly to make a bow-tie shape. (Alternatively, cut sheets into thin strips for noodles and dust with more semolina to keep separate.)

Drop the pasta into rapidly boiling water and cook it for 90 seconds, using a long-handled strainer to drain. Toss in a sauce of your choice and enjoy!

Reprinted with permission from “Unicorn Food” by Rachel Johnson. Copyright 2018. Photography by Rachel Johnson. Published by Sterling Epicure.