Vegan Pasta Dough Recipe

Two ingredients: ackee and flour. That’s it! That’s all you need to make this vegan pasta dough. Ackees are used to replace the eggs and because they are a good source of natural fat we don’t even need to add oil.

Why use ackees to make pasta dough?

Sure you could make eggless pasta with water only. BUT! Water adds nothing in terms in flavor. Basic pasta dough usually contains eggs or egg yolks. The egg yolks add richness and flavour.

By using ackees to make this vegan pasta dough we get some richness from the fruit. A mild nutty flavor and the added nutrient bonus.

Do you have to use a food processor to make pasta dough?

I use a food processor and a hand crank pasta machine to make these noodles.

And while you could certainly roll out the dough by hand. I’d highly encourage using the food processor to combine the dough. It’s not impossible to do by hand, I’m just not about that life 😆

How to make pasta dough from scratch?

To make the pasta dough, I combine pureed ackees and flour in the food processor. Blitz it a few times for the dough to come together. Then finish by kneading it for a few minutes then allowing it to rest before proceeding.

After resting the dough I do a series of threefolds and passing the dough through the hand crank pasta machine. This helps to improve the texture of the pasta. It’s a highly recommended step; but if you are short on time or out of arm energy I completely understand and you can skip along.

In the video below you can see how I make the pasta. I apologize for the quality, I didn’t realise till it was time to edit that the focus was set on the incorrect spot, however, progress over perfection is the name of the game so we shall press onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH75WkdQFPE&t=20s

Store bought pasta is convenient and I’m not suggesting this as a replacement to your weekday pasta fix. Its definitely a labour of love, but it’s more than worth it in the end.

How do you serve fresh pasta?

The great thing about fresh pasta is that it doesn’t need much. It cooks very fast! Once out of the pot, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper a little garlic goes a long way. A sprinkle of your favourite cheese is also a good option or swirling in some pesto.

That said, this vegan pasta dough could also be used to make ravioli or lasagne.

How to add color and flavor to pasta dough?

I love playing with vegetable powders from Nuts.com. The great thing about using vegetable powders is that they don’t only impart color on the dough. But they also add great nutritious flavour.

Spinach Pasta:

To make green pasta I use spinach powder from Nuts. They also I have their moringa, chlorella, wheatgrass and spirulina powders but I was concerned about nutrient loss so my default is spinach.

Beetroot Pasta:

Adding beet powder to the pasta gives the dough a reddish/purplish color.

Turmeric Pasta:

To give the pasta a nice golden yellow color, you can add a bit of turmeric. Be careful though since turmeric is very potent. You probably won’t need more than a teaspoon or two per batch.

Tomato Pasta:

Although adding tomato powder to the pasta dough doesn’t give it a bright red hue. It gives a deep intense tomato flavour. The color is more of a fall orange. Sometimes I’ll add annatto to try to amp up the red.

Vegan “Squid Ink” Pasta:

Typically black pasta gets its color from squid ink. To get a similar effect you can use activated charcoal powder.

For all the vegetable powders, it’s always best to start with a little first and then add more as you see what you like in terms of color and taste.

Have you ever made fresh pasta before?

I'm currently playing around with using semolina to replace some of the flour and do like the texture thus far. I've stuck with all purpose for this recipe however, since that's what most people will have anyway.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from the site be sure to #amazingackee and @amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊

Fresh Ackee Pasta

Chantal

Ackee pasta uses only two ingredients and is super easy to put together. Because ackees are a good source of natural fat we use them to replace the eggs making this pasta vegan and we don't even need to add oil.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 minute min

Total Time 1 hour hr 1 minute min

Course Main Course

Servings 4 persons

Calories 335 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 6 oz (170g) Parboiled Ackee mashed or passed through a sieve
• 10.5 oz (298g) All purpose flour
• 2 tbsps Spinach Powder/Beetroot powder optional

Instructions

 

• Combine ackee and flour in a food processor. Pulse until the dough starts coming together
• Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes (this is to develop the gluten structure, personally, I tend to go more for 5 minutes because as much as I love touching dough, sometimes I'd simply rather be off somewhere with my feet up and a book)
• Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for about an hour, but 20 minutes is okay if you can't or don't want to wait. If you don't have the time to work the dough right away, you can put it in your fridge overnight and come back to it the next day.
• Divide the dough into four equal portions. Working one portion at a time, press or roll the dough out then pass it through the widest setting on your pasta machine.
• Fold the dough in thirds, press or roll it down and pass it through the widest setting once more. Move on to the next piece then repeat the whole process until each piece of dough has been given four three-folds (this also is to develop the gluten, I've gotten away with folding it into thirds only twice).
• Roll out the dough to the desired thinness then cut into desired shape depending on what you are making.
• Enjoy!

Notes

If you don't have a food processor or pasta machine:

All the steps can be done by hand but then requires a fair bit of work. If kneading the dough by hand you'll want to pass your ackee through a sieve so its already smooth and easy to work with. Knead well till it comes together in a firm ball. After resting the dough, follow the instructions for rolling the dough into thirds using a rolling pin and your awesome arm strength Fresh pasta cooks fast!

Be ready:

When cooking the pasta it is crucial to remember that fresh pasta cooks a lot faster than dry/store bought pasta. This ackee pasta was done in about a minute! Be sure to have everything you need already laid out so as soon as they float in the boiling water you're ready to go. That is from the colander you need to drain it and the sauce or oil you plan to toss it in, if you're making lasagna it's not necessary to cook the pasta beforehand, but I personally prefer to do it this way as I find it easier to handle.

[nutrifox id="26210"]