Sweet Potato Pasta

Ever since I got my new pasta maker, I’ve been thinking about different kinds of pastas I could make. One that I’ve always wanted to try is sweet potato pasta.

Having never made it before, I needed to find a basic recipe. Unfortunately, my library of cookbooks offered no help.

My next step was the internet. My search for “sweet potato pasta recipe” yielded hundreds of recipes for pasta with sweet potatoes, but I was able to find only one for pasta made from sweet potatoes, and it looked wildly inaccurate.

Still, I copied it down and headed for the kitchen.

After roasting off three sweet potatoes for about an hour at 375F and letting them cool, I mashed them with my potato masher.

Then I separated two eggs and used the whisk attachment to my Kitchen Aid to whip the egg whites to soft peaks, about two minutes on high.

Next I folded in about one cup of the mashed sweet potato into the egg whites, a little at a time.

Normally, I just use all-purpose flour when I make pasta. And the sweet potato pasta recipe I found called for whole wheat flour. But I found this semolina flour, which is what commercial pastas normally are made from, so I used that instead. Semolina flour has a much coarser grind than AP flour. The grains are sort of halfway between AP flour and the grind used for corn meal.

I switched my Kitchen Aid to the dough hook attachment and added about 2-1/2 cups of flour until the dough started to form. It took about five minutes.

Then I kneaded it by hand for a few minutes, adding more flour as necessary. It took probably about another 1/2 cup of flour, as the sweet potatoes made the dough quite wet.

After letting it rest for a few minutes, I used a chef’s knife to cut it into four peices.

Then I set up my new pasta maker, which is my new favorite toy.

Starting with the rollers set at the widest setting, I rolled each peice of dough through the pasta makers several times, narrowing the rollers a little as I went along. All the while, I was throwing more flour on the dough to keep it from sticking to itself and to the pasta machine.

Finally, I attached the pasta cutter attachment to the pasta maker and cut the dough into fettucini.

After the pasta is cut, it needs to dry out for about 30 minutes because it’s still too damp. If I threw it into boiling water right  away, it would clump up.

After the pasta has dried, it can be placed in an airtight bag and refrigerated or even frozen until you are ready to use it. But I brought a big pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cooked the pasta for about six minutes.

There’s such a huge flavor and texture difference between freshly made and commercial pasta. This sweet potato pasta turned out exactly as I had hoped.

Sweet Potato Pasta

1 cup Sweet Potato, cooked, cooled and mashed

2 egg whites

3 cups Semolina Flour, plus additional flour to prevent dough from sticking

Pinch of Sea Salt

1. Whip egg whites to soft peaks, then fold in sweet potato a little at a time. Add salt.

2. Using dough hook attachment, add flour a little at a time and mix on medium until dough begins to form. Remove from bowl, knead by hand, adding additional flour as needed. Let rest under a clean kitchen towel for at least 10 minutes.

3. Cut dough into four peices. Starting with the rollers at the widest setting, feed the pasta through the machine several times, progressively narrowing the rollers. Sprinkle rolled sheets with flour and store under a towel while rolling the remaining pasta.

4. Add pasta cutter attachment to machine and cut into desired pasta type. Lay out on racks to dry for at least 30 minutes. Cook immediately or store in an airtight bag in the refrigerator or freezer for later use.

What types of unusual pastas do you like to make. I can’t wait to try squid ink, but I have to source it first. Share your ideas in the comments section below. And thanks for looking at my blog!