HOMEMADE VEGAN PASTA RECIPE WITH EPICA'S RED PEPPER TAPENADE (AD)
Disclosure: This is a paid partnership with EPICA by NORAC FOODS UK. All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.
They say that the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach and as someone who loves food, I couldn’t agree more. Going out for a romantic meal is lovely, but what really makes me feel special is when my other half cooks for me from scratch.
Seeing that Valentine’s day is around the corner, I thought I’d bring you a deliciously romantic recipe, in partnership with EPICA’s red pepper tapenade. Today, I’m sharing a vegan, eggless pasta dough recipe that will allow you to create one of the most romantic meals ever from the comfort of your own home. This vegan homemade pasta recipe is given a beautiful twist through the addition of EPICA’s red pepper tapenade, which has won The Great Taste Award, so you know it’s good. EPICA’s red pepper tapenade serves both as a key ingredient in the vegan pasta dough as well as the pasta sauce to bring the dish together and give it that final touch.
To make your simple vegan homemade pasta stand out and be a winner this Valentine’s day (and any other day for that matter), it’s important to use the best ingredients possible. EPICA’s commitment to prioritising taste, quality, fine and fresh ingredients means that including it in the dough, together with great ‘00’ flour and excellent semolina, enables you to create a truly noteworthy and delicious pasta recipe. EPICA’s red pepper tapenade’s Mediterranean flavours compliment this pasta recipe perfectly and also give the pasta dough a lovely depth and colour.
But let’s be honest too, cooking from scratch shouldn’t be too complicated and time consuming, right? Luckily, this pasta dough comes together much quicker than you’d expect and by using EPICA’s red pepper tapenade as your pasta sauce, you’re saving LOTS of time too. How lovely is that?
You can find EPICA’s red pepper tapenade in the refrigeration aisle at Sainsbury’s. Now grab yourself a tub (or more) and make this vegan, eggless pasta for Valentine’s this year! Now, to get the recipe for the homemade vegan pasta dough with EPICA’s red pepper tapenade, please scroll down and enjoy!
HOMEMADE VEGAN PASTA RECIPE WITH EPICA’S RED PEPPER TAPENADE
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2 - 3
INGREDIENTS FOR THE PASTA:
260g ‘00’ white flour (plus more to sprinkle onto your work surface for kneading)
1/4 tsp salt (plus more to salt your pasta cooking water)
130ml water
1 tsp paprika (optional)
1 tbs EPICA red pepper tapenade
1/2tbs olive oil
1 tbs semolina flour (plus more for preparing your pasta machine and work surface for kneading)
INGREDIENTS TO SERVE:
4-6 tbs EPICA red pepper tapenade
2-3 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
a few fresh basil leaves
INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix all the pasta ingredients together with a wooden spoon until combined, use your hands towards the end if need be.
Then sprinkle some flour onto your kitchen surface, take the pasta mixture and start kneading it with the palm of your hand. Knead for approximately 10 minutes, until the dough feels smooth to touch. You’ll know when it’s done if it has a slight shine to it and gently bounces back when you touch it with your fingers. If the dough feels too wet and sticks to your hands, add a little bit more flour and a sprinkle of semolina.
Once done, place the pasta dough in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for approximately 30 minutes.
When the dough is ready, cut it into smaller chunks and slowly push it through the pasta machine, starting at the thickest setting (on my machine that is 1 ) and running it through a few times before slowly reducing your setting until you reach 1 (or the equivalent setting that results in the thinnest pasta sheets). Every time before you push the dough through, sprinkle some semolina over the pasta sheet to prevent it from sticking to the pasta machine.
If the pasta sheets split or tear, fold them over into a thicker sheet, let them rest a few minutes and then run them through the pasta machine again.
Next gently push your pasta sheets through the linguine settings of your pasta maker (or the spaghetti if you prefer), sprinkle over some more semolina (as shown), so that the linguine doesn’t stick and set aside. You can create little nests (as shown) if you intend to cook and eat immediately, or hang the pasta over a chair if you want to dry it and use later.
Bring a large pot with water and a generous sprinkle of salt to the boil. When the water is boiling hot, add the pasta and cook through, around 1-2 minutes at most or until the pasta floats to the top (note fresh pasta cooks through very quickly!). Remove the pasta from the water, place it in a serving bowl, mix it in with a generous dollop of EPICA’s red pepper tapenade and serve immediately with nutritional yeast and/or some fresh basil leaves.
Looking for more recipes using Epica’s red pepper tapenade? The why not try my vegan roast cauliflower salad. You’ll love it!
