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| Trofie pasta is considered difficult to make, but no matter. |
Carrot Trofie with Carrot Greens Pesto
Serves 4
The all-mighty carrot! Such an endlessly versatile and delicious vegetable—I grow to love it more and more every day. From one angle, you can view this recipe as a testament to holistic “head-to-tail” vegetarian cooking, incorporating all parts of a single vegetable in a dish (carrot and its greens, in this case); from another angle, it’s an excuse to play with your food—which is where the handmade pasta comes in.
Trofie pasta hails from the region of northwest Italy known as Liguria. Pesto also hails from this region—and it’s no surprise that the two are often paired together.
Trofie is considered difficult to make, but no matter.
Trofie is considered difficult to make, but no matter.
I have been experimenting with various vegan doughs; they’re not only colorful, but also straight up nutritious. Carrot is an easy start. You can juice the carrot to make carrot colored dough (carrots come in many colors after all!); you can blanch the greens and blend them to make green dough. I will cover green doughs in another recipe; today we are making pesto.
This pesto recipe is adapted from chef Jeremy Fox’s seminal On Vegetables cookbook. What else can I say about it? If you want to experience some serenely high-concept vegetable-forward cooking, give the book a try.
This pesto recipe is adapted from chef Jeremy Fox’s seminal On Vegetables cookbook. What else can I say about it? If you want to experience some serenely high-concept vegetable-forward cooking, give the book a try.
A couple of quick notes: depending on your schedule, it might be wise to break this project up between two days. The dough can sit in the fridge over night; alternately, you can make the pesto in advance. It’s really up to you. This recipe, however, is written in a way that teaches you how to make everything in one day, from scratch, because that’s what I did. It took about 4 and a half hours, from start to finish.
Finally, if you want to make colorful vegan pasta from scratch somewhat regularly (and why not?), I suggest investing in a juicer, if you haven't already. Need I explain why? Anyhow, let’s begin.
Finally, if you want to make colorful vegan pasta from scratch somewhat regularly (and why not?), I suggest investing in a juicer, if you haven't already. Need I explain why? Anyhow, let’s begin.
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| Carrot greens are similar to parsley, though I prefer them to the latter. Very nutritious, too. |
For the pasta:
- 2 1/4 cups durum wheat flour, or all-purpose flour (see note)
- 6 large carrots, with greens separated, juiced (3/4 cup juice)
For the carrot greens pesto (makes 1 cup):
- 1 ounce pine nuts, toasted until deep golden brown
- 1/2 ounce grated garlic (approx. 2 medium cloves), germ removed
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups packed (115g) carrot greens (see note)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Note: I always make my pasta with all-purpose flour. It's cost-effective, perfect for practicing your technique, and it tastes great.
Another note: If you're coming up short on the amount of carrot greens needed for pesto, substitute in spinach or basil.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Meanwhile, make the pasta dough: In a stand mixer, combine the flour and carrot juice and mix with the paddle attachment on the lowest setting. If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply need the dough by hand. If you see that the flour is too dry to form a cohesive dough, add 1 additional teaspoon of juice until the dough just comes together (if you’re out of juice, use water). Continue mixing in the stand mixer (or by hand) for another minute, then remove the dough from the mixer. The dough should be a sticky clump, like play-dough, only tackier. Lightly flour a work surface as well as the dough and begin to kneed by hand for about 5 minutes, adding an additional dusting of flour only as necessary. After 5 minutes, the dough should feel stiff. Form the dough into a sphere, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes, or as long as it takes to make the pesto. You can also leave the wrapped ball in the fridge for up to 24 hours; the color will only intensify.
Meanwhile, make the pasta dough: In a stand mixer, combine the flour and carrot juice and mix with the paddle attachment on the lowest setting. If you don’t have a stand mixer, simply need the dough by hand. If you see that the flour is too dry to form a cohesive dough, add 1 additional teaspoon of juice until the dough just comes together (if you’re out of juice, use water). Continue mixing in the stand mixer (or by hand) for another minute, then remove the dough from the mixer. The dough should be a sticky clump, like play-dough, only tackier. Lightly flour a work surface as well as the dough and begin to kneed by hand for about 5 minutes, adding an additional dusting of flour only as necessary. After 5 minutes, the dough should feel stiff. Form the dough into a sphere, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes, or as long as it takes to make the pesto. You can also leave the wrapped ball in the fridge for up to 24 hours; the color will only intensify.
Meanwhile, start the pesto: Toast the pine nuts until deep golden brown, around 20-30 minutes, depending on the power of your oven. Keep a close eye on them and set multiple timers if necessary. While the nuts toast, strip the leaves from the carrot green stems and grate the garlic. If using a mortar and pestle, start by grinding the pine nuts, garlic and salt. When the mixture resembles a paste, incorporate the carrot greens. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and continue pounding until you have a rough textured sauce. Store and refrigerate for up to 3 days. If using a food processor, pulse everything minus the oil until incorporated. Drizzle in the oil and continue to process, however, make sure not to over process the pesto. Store and refrigerate for up to 3 days. In both cases, you may add a layer of oil over the top of the pesto to prevent discoloring.
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| Using a mortar and pestle sure is romantic, albeit my set is a bit small... |
Make the trofie: If your dough was refrigerated, allow the dough to warm on the counter for a while; it will be more pliable at room temperature. Unwrap the dough from the plastic. It should be quite supple. Section off a quarter of dough with a bench scraper. Cover the remaining dough ball with a turned-over mixing bowl to prevent it from drying out. Roll the quarter piece into a snake that fits in the palm of your hand. Prepare your rolling surface; I flip my wooden cutting board upside down (the top side has grooves). Keep this surface dry and flour free. If you’re worried about the surface sliding around, place a wet cloth underneath.
Holding the dough snake in your non dominant hand, pinch off a pea-sized piece of dough with your dominant hand. Roll it into a rough sphere between your thumb and first finger.
Place the dough on the rolling surface and cover it with your dominant hand. I like the dough to be situated above the palm and below the knuckle of my pointer finger.
Roll out the mini-sphere into a mini-snake by applying slight pressure and moving your hand 5 inches away from your body.
Now, without taking your hand off of the snake, roll it again, back towards your body, but at an 85 degree angle, at a length of about 4 inches. It should roll across the width of your palm, creating grooves.
Flick it off of the board and repeat with the remaining dough. Continue to peel quarters off of the original dough sphere until all the trofie is made. The finished trofie will become leather hard as it sits; that's fine. A bench scraper makes easy work of scooping them up and moving them around.
This will take a lot of practice, but practice makes perfect. You will eventually create the muscle memory; in the meantime, pretend like you’re a kid playing with play-dough. Just have fun with it and keep trying. It will be delicious even if the pasta isn’t perfect; that being said, be consistent with the amount of dough you pinch off to make each piece of pasta so that the trofies are all of similar size.
Cook the trofie: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt heavily. Taste it; the water should taste as salty as a mermaid’s tit. Toss the trofie in the boiling water. Allow it to cook for 1 minute. The trofie is finished once it rises to the surface and boils for a couple of seconds. Drain the trofie into a colander over the sink and proceed to shock the trofie with cold water to stop it from cooking. Allow it to drain, dress with your carrot top pesto, and enjoy.
Cook the trofie: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt heavily. Taste it; the water should taste as salty as a mermaid’s tit. Toss the trofie in the boiling water. Allow it to cook for 1 minute. The trofie is finished once it rises to the surface and boils for a couple of seconds. Drain the trofie into a colander over the sink and proceed to shock the trofie with cold water to stop it from cooking. Allow it to drain, dress with your carrot top pesto, and enjoy.
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