Homemade flavored pasta

To prepare the saffron yellow pasta, start by putting the flour in a bowl; make a crater in the center of the flour and put the shelled eggs in it; add the saffron to the eggs. With a fork, beat the eggs and slowly begin to incorporate the flour.

As soon as the eggs have absorbed enough flour to no longer be liquid, start working the dough with your hands, first in the bowl, then, when you have incorporated all the flour, transfer it onto a wooden pastry board.

Knead the yellow pasta dough for at least 10 minutes, pressing it with the palm of your hand and folding it several times, until it becomes smooth. Then wrap it in a sheet of plastic wrap and let it rest for half an hour at room temperature.

To prepare the orange pasta, pour the flour into a bowl, form a crater in the center and shell the eggs inside. Add the tomato paste to the eggs. With a fork, beat the eggs and gradually incorporate the flour.

When the eggs are no longer liquid because they have absorbed enough flour, start working the mixture with your hands, first inside the bowl and then on the wooden pastry board.

Continue to knead the orange pasta dough for 10 minutes, kneading it vigorously using the palms of your hands, until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. Wrap it in plastic film and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

To prepare the green pasta, first cook the spinach: after washing them, put them in a pot with two tablespoons of water. Add a pinch of salt and cover with a lid. Cook them over medium heat until they are soft, then drain and let them cool. Squeeze them well with your hands, so that they lose as much of their cooking water as possible. Then put them in a blender and shred them finely.

Pour the flour into a bowl forming a crater in the center, in which you will put both the shelled egg and the blended spinach. Beat the egg with a fork to mix the flour and spinach, until you get a mixture that is no longer liquid.

Now knead the dough with your hands, first in the bowl and then, when you have incorporated all the flour, on a wooden pastry board. If you notice that it tends to stick to the pastry board, add a little flour. Continue to knead the dough with your hands for about ten minutes, until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous. Wrap it in a sheet of plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for half an hour.

To prepare the purple pasta, drain the beetroot from its cooking water, cut it into small pieces and blend it with an immersion blender to obtain a smooth and homogeneous puree.

Pour the flour into a bowl, make a crater in the center and put both the shelled egg and the beetroot puree in it. With a fork, beat the egg and begin to incorporate both the pureed beetroot and the flour.

When the mixture is no longer liquid, start kneading it with your hands inside the bowl. As soon as you have incorporated all the flour, transfer the dough onto a wooden pastry board and work it with your hands for about 10 minutes, press it and folding it several times. If the dough is too sticky you can add a little flour. When you have obtained a smooth and homogeneous mixture, wrap it in a sheet of plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

After the resting time you can roll out and cut each dough to shape your colored pasta. With each dough you will get pasta for two servings. Take the yellow dough, cut it in half and wrap one of the two parts in plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry too much while you roll out the first half.

Flour the first half of the dough and flatten it with your hands or with a rolling pin. Then pass the dough through the roller of the pasta maker set to the maximum thickness. Fold it in half to give it a more regular shape, flour it lightly and pass it again between the rollers at maximum thickness. If necessary, repeat the operation once more, until you have obtained a regular-shaped sheet.

Then cut it in half, to have two shorter and more easily workable sheets. Flour them lightly and pass them one at a time between the rollers of the pasta maker, setting the thickness slightly thinner. Continue in this way, reducing the thickness each time, until you reach, if you can, the second to last thickness value. Proceed in the same way to roll out the other half of the yellow dough and the orange, green and purple dough.

Once the sheets have been rolled out, you can boil them to prepare lasagna, or cut them to shape tagliatelle, fettuccine or pappardelle: in this case, sprinkle the sheets of homemade flavored pasta with a little semolina flour which helps them dry and not stick together. Take each sheet from the short side and roll it up on itself, forming a flat roll. Then cut it with a knife into slices 1/4 inch (about 7 mm) thick for tagliatelle, 0.15 inch (about 4 mm) for fettuccine and half an inch (about 13 mm) for pappardelle. Unroll the pasta thus obtained and wrap it around your fingers to form noodles; then place them on a lightly floured work surface.

To cook the homemade flavored pasta, bring plenty of salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and cook for 4-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cooking times vary according to the thickness of the pasta. Once cooked, drain and season to taste.