Zero Waste Pasta Recipe

On my way to a friend’s wedding, I stopped at the 4th Street Food Co-op to buy some bulk Organic olive oil (so far the only place in the city where I can find it), and ended up leaving with a free squash. A squash the size and girth of a bowling ball. AKA the most awkward thing try and conceal at a wedding.

Five days later I roasted off the squash and decided to tackle something I had never before attempted. Ravioli.

I used the pasta recipe below that is from Anne Burrell’s cookbook called cook like a rock star, a gift from my friend Chelsea and the most used cookbook in my collection. I created the filling by pureeing the roasted squash with maple syrup, salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, olive oil, and garlic (zero measurements, totally by taste as I had no idea what I was doing) and hoped for the best.

The outcome was magical. It was the best squash ravioli I ever had. The pasta recipe was perfect and could also be used to make spaghetti or other types of cut pastas. I recommend trying it out immediately and impressing everyone you know. With this recipe, I convinced my cousin, who probably thought my cooking skills were equivalent to those of a 7 year old at best, that I am worthy of cooking with the big dogs (her and my 80 year old grandma) at Thanksgiving. This recipe is amazing.

Pasta Dough

Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting (about 1/2 cup)
4 large eggs plus one yolk
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt

Step 1: Mound the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a big hole in the center of the flour pile. Crack the eggs into the hole along with the extra yolk, olive oil, and 2 tbs of water. Season with salt.

Step 2: Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water, and salt, and begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. Be careful not to break the well or the egg mixture will run everywhere and that is gross.

Continue mixing…

Step 3: When the flour is incorporated and you can handle the dough, use your hands to combine everything. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands a little bit.

Step 4: When the mixture comes together completely as in the picture below, start kneading. When knewading, put your body weight into it and really stretch it. Be careful not to tear it. Roll the mixture over itself. When it’s done it should be smooth. This can take 8-15 minutes.

Step 5: When the pasta is ready and looks like the picture below, wrap it in a dish towel and let it rest for an hour at room temperature before rolling it out.

Step 6: Cut the dough into quarters and roll it out. I don’t have a pasta roller or a normal rolling pin, so we used a stainless steel water bottle instead, which worked really well!

Step 7: Cut the Pasta into your desired shape. For me It was strips and I filled them with my squash mixture. I then wet the edges of the bottom sheet of pasta and put another rolled out sheet of pasta on top.