Making your own pasta from scratch always seemed like a daunting and even impossible task. We bought it off the shelf and fresh pasta was always expensive, so why bother? As I found out its super simple to make your very own fresh delicious Zero Waste pasta with only two ingredients!
I normally buy dry pasta in bulk at Kiah Organics and other locations around Brisbane, which were good Zero Waste options. But I had heard rumors of a fresh pasta man who appeared at the Milton and West End markets. I had tried to track him down a couple of times but always seemed to be too late or he just wasn’t there. Until one fateful day I found him and sourced some beautifully made fresh pasta. It even smelled delicious as it! I popped it into a glass container and into the pantry.
The next day I had my pesto ready to go and was about to pour my pasta into my boiling pot, when a tinge of green catch my eye. On closer inspection it appeared that mold had spread through my pasta! I was devastated. It had taken me so long to acquire this allusive pasta only to discover that it had gone moldy. Running late for work I grabbed some change to pay for some below average bain marie dinner.
It was only as I was telling my sad tale whilst gingerly eating my soggy bain marie chips that I realised that I was the idiot here! I should have kept my fresh pasta in the fridge! Lesson definitely learnt.
KEEP YOUR FRESH PASTA IN THE FRIDGE!
Not wanting my pesto to go to waste and having a pantry void of pasta, I looked into making my own pasta. How hard could it actually be?
All it takes is flour and eggs, seriously that’s it. I had those ingredients on hand so what did I have to lose? I didn’t own a pasta maker or any semolina flour. All I had were my hands and some basic utensils but I could make it work. The Zero Waste Chef was the source of my inspiration and her original recipe includes using semolina, but having only plain flour available, I've produced a more basic Zero Waste pasta recipe.
Making the dough was easy and I just wanted some simple “spaghetti-ish looking” pasta. So I rolled out my dough as thin as possible then rolled it into a scroll and cut out my noodles. Couple of minutes in the pot and then voila, fresh Zero Waste pasta ready to serve. I didn’t think it could be done but I definitely proved myself wrong.
You could get fancy using semolina flour and a pasta machine to achieve that perfectly shaped noodles, but it’s really not necessary. As long as it tastes good, am I right?
Zero Waste Pasta (Serves two)
Ingredients
1 cup Plain flour
2 Eggs
Method
Combine egg and flour in a bowl until a rough dough forms
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (it will be stiffer than a bread dough)
Let the dough rest for 10-20 minutes
Divide the dough in half and roll out each section into a rough rectangle as thinly as possible
Roll into a scroll shape and cut out noodles
Unwind and cook in a pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes
Drain and serve your Zero Waste pasta with a delicious sauce of your choice!
* If not cooking straight away dust your pasta noodles with flour and let dry for 30 minutes. Store in an air tight container and in the fridge
Let me know how you go with this Zero Waste pasta recipe!