One of the things I’ve discovered whilst doing the vegan thing is that with a lot of my favourite foods, I have to really go back to basics to make sure I’m sticking to the rules. I’ve turned in to one of those terrible label-checkers, and in doing so have been surprised to find that a lot of pasta is not vegan friendly at all. So this weekend I set out to make my own, turning of course to the internet to search for a homemade vegan pasta recipe that I could handle.

Minimalist Baker is one of my favourite food blogs, and this recipe is based heavily on hers. But I wanted to do something a little different to make this a really summery supper, so I’ve experimented with herbs. Adding mint to the pasta dough itself was a bit of a shot in the dark, but it resulted in a deliciously fresh taste with the avocado sauce.

Having not made pasta from scratch since a lacklustre food technology lesson 7 years ago, I found this whole process pretty exciting. There was something cool about watching real pasta on the boil.

for the pasta:
150g  ’00’ pasta flour
75g spelt flour
8 tbsp water
really big handful fresh mint chopped finely

for the sauce:
1 mashed avocado
1 tbsp reserved pasta water

1. Tip the flours on to a clean work surface and make a well in the centre with your hand.
2. Pour the water in, making sure it doesn’t spill out.
3. Using a fork, gradually bring the flour in to the well to make a paste, when that paste starts to come together, add the mint then get your hands involved to form the dough. To pick up this technique I followed this brilliant video, check it out.
4. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then wrap in cling film and leave to rest for 8 minutes or so.
5. Once it’s rested, unwrap it and roll it out on a floured surface to around half a centimetre thick. Don’t worry too much about getting a particular shape, you’re not entering a symmetrical pasta competition.
6. Using a knife (or a pizza cutter if you happen to have one) cut through the dough to make tagliatelle strips around a centimetre wide.
7. Fill and boil the kettle then put the boiling water on a high heat with a little salt, when it begins to reboil, add the pasta.
8. To get that much coveted al dente, boil for 8 minutes.
9. Drain the pasta, reserving about a tablespoon of water, then put it back in the saucepan with the mashed avocado and mix it up a little til all the surfaces are coated.
10. Plate up, sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper and enjoy.

Seeing as it’s the Summer Solstice and all, your track recommendation today is dedicated to my wonderful hippy of a Mother and is from The Lotus Eaters (you know, that one that goes ‘the first picture of you, the first picture of summer‘).

Thanks for reading x