Shamrock Stained Glass Pasta

More About This Recipe

• Forget the corned beef and potatoes and make this pasta with little shamrocks instead.
  
  Who couldn’t use a little extra luck in their lives? Maybe, just maybe, this herb-infused pasta (shamrocks, of sorts) will help bring it your way. At a minimum, it will guarantee a fun food project and a delicious dinner!
  
  We saw this technique over at The Novice Gardener and thought it was just perfect for St. Patrick's Day. 
  
  Making pasta is a near-lost art, but it isn’t all that hard. It does take some patience, which I know can be in short supply in our hyper-fast age. But, if you can spare a few hours and feel like diving into a great food project, homemade pasta tops my list.
  
  What’s nice about making pasta is that you probably have all the ingredients you need for it (although you will need a pasta roller of some sort). 
  
  It’s really just flour, salt, and eggs.
  
  I usually start with three cups of flour, stir in some salt and then make my well for the eggs.
  
  The truth is that the amount of flour doesn’t really matter because as you slowly work the flour and eggs together, extra flour just won’t get incorporated. You could start with 10 cups of flour and then you would just have 7-8 cups left over!
  
  Mix the eggs slowly as you go. If your well breaks, don’t freak out! Just quickly work to mix the eggs and flour together and form a ball of dough.
  
  When the dough is roughly together, start kneading it. You’ll want to knead it for 10-15 minutes, working in more flour as you go. It should end up being a really firm ball.
  
  The most important part of pasta dough at this point is letting it rest. The flour needs time to relax a bit or it’ll be really hard to work with. So wrap it tightly in plastic wrap (so it doesn’t dry out) and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
  
  Then, work with the dough in thirds and roll it out into pretty thin sheets. Use lots of flour to avoid sticking. For this first one, you want to roll it out to the second thinnest setting on your pasta roller.
  
  Now it’s time for the lucky charms (and I don't mean the cereal!). I used a micro green mix from the store for this and it worked awesomely. It also happens to taste great!
  
  Cut your pasta dough into two pieces and then sprinkle one half with the herbs.
  
  Dot the dough with some water and press on the other half of the dough. Then send the whole thing back through the pasta roller so it gets thin again.
  
  You’ll have little stain glass shamrocks in your pasta this time around!
  
  Once your dough is rolled out a second time, slice it into wide noodles so you can still see the herbs... uh, I mean "shamrocks".
  
  Like any fresh pasta, cook these in salted boiling water until they float and are tender. Toss them with your favorite sauce and serve them immediately!
  
  For me, the noodles are so beautiful that I just like to toss them in a light butter sauce and garnish them with some of the greens!
  
  Now that's GOOD LUCK. 
  
  Nick thinks this pasta can bring some serious luck! Check out his blog, Macheesmo, and follow him on his Tablespoon Profile.