Pink Saturday - Pink Pasta

Pink Saturday - Beverly, at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire your creativity!

In Puglia, Italy, there's a small factory that makes brilliantly colored pasta. It's made with hard durum wheat, and shaped by being forced through bronze dies, which give a rough texture to the final product, unlike modern pasta factories' teflon dies, which made a smoother noodle. A rougher texture helps sauce cling to the pasta.

The color comes from natural vegetables and flavorings - beets, spinach, carrot, red pepper and turmeric, and reviews of this brand, made by the Marella pasta factory, report that the colors stay vivid even when cooked.

As you might imagine, these pastas are more costly than your basic box of Creamettes. I saw them in a specialty food store in Santa Monica, and the price tag for a bag was a whopping $13.95. Still, for a special holiday meal, it might be worth trying.

This pasta is so pretty it's perfect for Pink Saturday. And wouldn't a plate of rainbow colored linguini look great for Valentine's Day, tossed with a pesto or cream sauce? Or - how about a pink sauce? Just cook some plum tomatoes in a pan with butter, and add some heavy cream. Simmer until the sauce thickens, then toss with the pasta, some chopped parley and grated parmesan. Pretty! - and pink!