Pumpkin pasta dough

Fresh egg noodles in Italy are a gorgeous, rich golden color that is hard to replicate elsewhere. This is because of the intense red of the yolks (indeed, in Italy the yolk is referred to as il rosso, the red). I’m still not sure what inspired me one day to add just a little bit of pumpkin puree to my pasta dough actually, it was buttercup squash, which has sweet, dense, deep orange flesh. I happened to have some left over in my fridge from a pumpkin cheesecake that I had made for Thanksgiving. Into the dough it went. The resulting pasta sheets were even better than I had imagined, golden in color and subtle in flavor a perfect match for the Pumpkin. But you can also cut them into pappardelle or fettuccine and serve them with Simple Tomato Sauce, Ragù all’Abruzzese, or Herbed Butter.

Portions: Makes about 1 lb-455g

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup-85 g pureed cooked pumpkin or winter squash, such as buttercup or kabocha, or canned pumpkin puree
• 2 extra large eggs
• 2 to 2 1/4 cups-255 to 285 g 00 flour or unbleached all purpose plain flour
• 2 tbsp semolina flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• Pinch or freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation:

In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and 1 egg. Set aside. Put 2 cups-255 g 00 flour, the 2 tbsp semolina flour, salt, and nutmeg in a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine. Add the pumpkin egg mixture and pulse briefly. Add the remaining egg and pulse until the mixture forms crumbs that look like small curds. Pinch together a bit of the mixture and roll it around. It should form a soft ball. If the mixture seems dry, drizzle in a few droplets of water and pulse briefly. If it seems too wet and sticky, add additional flour, 1 tbsp at a time, and pulse briefly.Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface sprinkled lightly with semolina flour and press it together with your hands to form a rough ball. Knead the dough: Using the palm of your hand, push the dough gently but firmly away from you, and then fold it over toward you. Rotate the dough a quarter turn, and repeat the pushing and folding motion. Continue kneading for several minutes until the dough is smooth. Form it into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap/cling film. Let the
dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.