This pasta dish is inspired by our trip to Sardegna. The consistency is pretty chewy: that’s the story with eggless pasta, but it’s made with saffron which adds some richness to it. We just absolutely love these, so give it a shot! Moreover, we got some beautiful baby veggies in the market and romanesco, so we had to use these. If you use vegetable stock, it’s a great vegetarian dish.
For 4 portions
Dough:
30 pcs saffron
1 tsp salt
400 g semolina
200 g water100 g romanesco
50 g baby carrots, parsnip
50 g parmesan
50 g butter
200 ml chicken stock (or vegetable)
50 g edible flowers
salt and pepper
First, let’s make the dough. Dissolve the salt in 200 g of warm water and add 10 pcs of saffron. It’s the best, if you do it ahead, because the taste of saffron releases gradually. Add semolina to a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the water and prepare a little bit sticky dough. You have to really work it through. I used a robot, it’s not really the traditional way, but definitely the easiest. Wrap the dough in a foil and let it rest for 20 minutes, preferably in the fridge.
Roll out the dough until flat and divide into smaller pieces. Roll these out to long strips: I used a chopping board, as it was sliding a bit on the kitchen counter. Cut the strips into 1,5 cm bits and shape them nicely on a gnocchi ridger. Just flatten the dough downwards with your thumb, it will turn over and you will get cute little rolls. It might take a while, before you’re happy with the shapes, but it doesn’t have to be perfect, come on, it’s handmade! Sprinkle the pasta generously with flour and cook in salty water for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Dissolve the remaining saffron in the chicken stock, add grated parmesan and butter. You will get a nice emulsion: you just need to add the pasta and season to taste. Make sure there is enough liquid, you can even pour in some water in which you cooked the pasta.
Heat up the veggies on some butter with a bit of sugar and salt, just that it is al dente. Finally, decorate with parmesan shavings and edible flowers. Voila! Enjoy 🙂