Easy & Colorful Summer Pasta Recipes

Now that we’re back in the office, lunch time is once again a conundrum for everyone here! Do you pack a quick PB&J and some goldfish or is that too unhealthy? Do you order out and pay $15 dollars more for a lukewarm takeout? Or, are you like me, and you depend on the ability of your own two hands the night before to make maybe enough leftovers to provide for the next day, for yourself and the others in your house? (Yeah, calling myself out hurt…)

Not only that, but for the parent’s that stay home with the kids once school is out, it can be difficult to prepare multiple meals while also making sure the kiddos are engaged and not running around with spaghetti sauce (or if they’re like I was as a kid, cake batter) covering them from head to toe! So for that, and for myself, I’ve curated a nifty little recipe list that’s perfect for hot summer days, and can easily make enough for the whole family or a whole week’s worth of lunches! 

Below is a list of things that you’ll need for a basic pasta dough recipe. If you’re happy with that, then you don’t need anything else! But- if you’re like me and have been DYING to try a tomato based pasta or make green dough that’s fun for everyone, there’s more below!

Tools You’ll Need: 

• Pasta Maker (pssttt… if you sign up for the Tastemaker program here, you can get 20% off the Houseables Pasta Machine just for being you!!) 

Ingredients for Basic Pasta Dough: 

• 1 2/3 cups flour 
• 2 medium or large eggs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• A pinch of sea salt

Ingredients for Spinach (Green) Dough: 

• ¾ cups of cooked spinach, squeezed to get rid of as much moisture as possible!
• Note: Frozen cooked spinach works perfectly here! 

Tomato (Red) Dough: 

• 2 Tblsp Tomato Paste OR Sun-Dried Tomato Paste

Beets (Purple) Dough: 

Making Your Basic Pasta Dough: 

1. Sift your flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center with your fist. 

1. Break your eggs into the well. 
2. Add your oil and a pinch of salt into the well as well
3. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough.

This is where the fun comes in! If you’re happy with just normal dough, slowly mix all of the ingredients together with one hand. But if you’re adding other things, keep going! 

Spinach (Green) Pasta: 

1. Sift your flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center with your fist.
2. Puree ¾ Cups of your cooked spinach and add it to the well 
3. Add 2 eggs into the well. 
4. Add your oil and your pinch of salt into the well
5. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough.

Tomato (Red/Orange) Pasta: 

1. Sift your flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center with your fist.
2. Add your tomato paste or sundried tomato paste into the well 
3. Add 1 egg into the well. 
4. Add your oil and your pinch of salt into the well
5. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough.

Beets (Purple) Dough

1. After allowing your beets to roast and cool, either peel and grate them OR puree them
2. Sift your flour onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center with your fist. 
3. Add 2 Tblsp of grated or pureed beet into the well of the flour
4. Add 1 egg into the well. 
5. Add your oil and your pinch of salt into the well
6. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using the fingers of one hand, bringing the ingredients together into a firm dough.

**If the dough feels too dry, add a few drops of water; if it’s too wet, add a little more flour. 

After following your desired recipe, the below steps works for all of them!

Note: If you don’t want to cook all of this pasta at once, you can cut it into sections (quarters or halves work for us) after it rests at room temperature. 

1. Knead the pasta until smooth, 2 to 5 minutes.
2. Lightly rub the entire surface with a little bit of olive oil, pop the dough into a plastic food bag, and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. 
3. Lift your dough carefully out of the bag
4. Taking out your trusty Houseables Pasta Machine (if you don’t have one, you can sign up to be a Tastemaker and get 20% off of the machine! Or it’s also listed on our Amazon page here), begin to slowly feed the blob of dough through the widest setting of the pasta machine
5. As the sheet comes out, fold it into thirds and then feed it through the rollers again. Still on the widest setting.
6. Pass the same sheet through this setting 4 or 5 times
7. Now, you can begin to gradually reduce the thickness settings, one at a time, until you achieve the perfect thickness.
8. If you’re looking for linguine or spaghetti pasta, simply pass your sheet through the other end of the Houseables machine and boom! Perfect pasta!

We'll add a sauce recipe in the next couple of weeks, since we kind of still have to nail these all first! Thank you so much for reading everyone, and let us know if you LOVED the recipes (or if your families did!)