Coloured & Flavoured Pasta

Both dried and fresh pasta may have additional ingredients added to the basic pasta dough to give them a distinctive colour or flavour. The most widely used of these ingredients is probably spinach, used to create the green coloured lasagne verde and tagliatelle verde. However, there are hundreds of other agents that may be used, from basic ingredients such as tomato or garlic to more obscure items such as squid ink and chocolate. Some of the most commonly used are listed below, along with any changes to the pasta's flavour and colour that their addition makes.

Beetroot

• Colour: Deep pink to dark red

Cooked, puréed and strained beetroots are usually used simply to add colour to the pasta.

Broccoli

• Colour: Medium to dark green
• Flavour: A slight hint of broccoli

Carrot

• Colour: Orange
• Flavour: Strong carroty flavour

Chilli Pepper

• Colour: Varies from orange-red to green, depending on the type of chilli used
• Flavour: A biting, spicy flavour, which will vary in strength according to the type of chilli pepper used

A wide range of de-seeded and puréed chilli peppers may be used to colour and flavour pasta, such as jalapeño, Serrano and cayenne.

Chocolate

• Colour: Brown
• Flavour: A mild, chocolatey flavour

Unsweetened cocoa powder and sugar may be added to pasta dough to give it a mildly sweet chocolate flavour, ideal for sweet pasta dishes.

Curry

• Colour: A pale, burnt orange
• Flavour: Hot and spicy

The addition of curry powder (a blend of coriander, cloves, turmeric, cumin and ground red pepper) gives pasta a distinctive spicy taste.

Garlic

• Colour: Creamy beige (flecked with green if herbs are also added)
• Flavour: Spicy garlic

Crushed garlic cloves may be added to the pasta dough, along with herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, tarragon, oregano, basil or chives.

Lemon

• Colour: Light yellow
• Flavour: Mildly tart, lemon taste

The zest and/or juice of the lemon can be used to add a pleasantly mild lemony flavour.

Red Pepper

• Colour: Bright orange-red
• Flavour: Slightly sweet

Roasted and puréed red sweet peppers are used to create this attractive looking pasta.

Saffron

• Colour: Bright yellow-gold
• Flavour: Mildly bitter and spicy

Spinach

• Colour: Medium to dark green
• Flavour: Mild spinach

When finely chopped spinach has been added to the dough, the resulting pasta is termed 'verdi' (green).

Squid or Cuttlefish Ink

• Colour: Dark grey to black
• Flavour: Mild seafood

The ink of squid or cuttlefish may be added to pasta dough to create 'pasta nero'.

Strawberry

• Colour: Dull pale red
• Flavour: Mild strawberry

Tomato

• Colour: Light to dark red-orange
• Flavour: Mild tomato