Right outside of town there’s several lavender farms in the area. I haven’t been able to go to any of them yet, because I always forget which month it is that they harvest and end up missing it. The lavender starts to bloom around mid May and continues through early July.
Last year a friend of mine had given me some dried lavender in return all I had to do was make her some lavender pasta. I hear it’s delicious, maybe I should have kept some for myself! My kitchen smelled like a spa for the day and the pasta looked so pretty when it was done. It’s really inspired me to try lavender in some of my other dishes.
I used the basic egg pasta recipe from Kitchen Aid then added lavender in. If you want step by step pictures on how to make pasta click HERE for details.
Lavender Pasta
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons lavender
1/2 teaspoon salt
Place eggs, water, flour, lavender and salt in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and flat beater. Turn the Speed to 2 and mix 30 seconds.
Exchange flat beater for dough hook. Turn to Speed 2 and knead 2 minutes.
Remove dough from bowl and hand knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 4 pieces before processing with Pasta Sheet Roller Attachment. Flatten each piece slightly.
Set adjustment knob on Pasta Sheet Roller at 1 by pulling the knob straight out and turning to setting 1. Release knob, making certain pin on roller housing engages opening on the back of the knob, allowing the knob to fit flush to the roller housing. Turn mixer to Speed 2 or 4. Feed flattened piece of dough into rollers to knead. Fold dough in half and roll again. Repeat folding process several times, until dough is smooth and pliable and covers the width of the roller. Lightly dust pasta with flour while rolling and cutting to aid in drying and separation.
Move adjustment knob to setting 2. Feed dough through roller to further flatten.
Change to setting 3 and feed dough through rollers again. Continue to increase roller setting until desired dough thickness is reached. Do not fold dough on setting 2 or higher.
Exchange Pasta Sheet Roller for Pasta Cutter attachment. Feed flattened sheets of dough through cutter. Cut Pasta can be cooked immediately or frozen or dried for later use.
Hum, sounds interesting. I looked for some lavender to plant at the garden center. Will look again.