Following on from my earlier post today on foraging for seaweed in Shetland, I thought I'd share one of my favourite seaweed recipes: seaweed pasta!
Using some Italian '00' pasta flour (available at Scoop Wholefoods in Lerwick), some Shetland hens eggs (available at the bottom of many a driveway in Shetland!) and some dried foraged Shetland seaweed you can make your own delicious pasta.
If you've never made your own pasta before I insist you absolutely have to try. Nothing beats the flavour of a nice home made fresh pasta, and it really isn't difficult to make. If you don't have any seaweed you can always omit it, although it won't be as nice, in my humble opinion!
A pasta machine does make things a lot easier, but you can roll out the dough by hand with a rolling pin. Persevere and try and get it as thin as you possibly can.
Enjoy!
Seaweed Pasta
Course: Main
Servings: 4 people
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Ingredients:
- '00' Pasta flour - 400 grams (you can get this in Scoop Wholefoods))
- Shetland eggs - 4 large
- Dried Shetland seaweed - 1 tbsp
- Cornmeal - (to roll)
Instructions:
- Pop the pasta flour, eggs and seaweed into a food processor.
- Pulse for 30 seconds until the mixture starts clumping together. Do not overmix!
- Turn pasta dough clumps out onto a floured surface and knead firmly for 2 minutes. Form dough into a smooth ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal on your work surface.
- With a rolling pin, lightly flatten your dough ball. Run it through a pasta machine, if you have one, on its thickest setting. Fold dough in thirds into the centre and run through again. Repeat twice until the dough is the width of the machine. Continue to run the dough through the machine selecting a thinner setting each time until it is as thin as you want. You may need more cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to the machine.
- Alternatively use a rolling pin and persevere!
- To make farfalle, or pasta bows, cut the pasta dough with a sharp knife into lengthwise strips about an inch wide. Using a fluted pastry cutter cut the strips into 2 inch widths. Pinch the centre of each piece to form the characteristic bow shape and place on a baking tray sprinkled with cornmeal. The kids love doing this bit!
- To make tagliatelle, either use the setting on your pasta machine or cut dough into long strips with a sharp knife. Drape the tagliatelle over knitting needles weighted down with cookbooks until dried, or until you are ready to cook. Experience has taught me this is the easiest way to keep the strands of pasta from sticking together.
- To cook, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook for 3 minutes, drain and serve!
- Serving suggestion: Add a spoonful of dried seaweed to your usual pesto recipe and stir into freshly cooked farfalle. Dry fry some chilli halloumi on both sides for 2 minutes, until golden. Arrange halloumi on top of the pasta with some sliced chillies. Serve with a fresh salad.
Elizabeth Atia
I am a self taught home cook, feeding my family on the west side of Shetland with as much local produce, flavour and love as I can. I am no expert by any means, but I do enjoy learning and writing about food, flavours and techniques.