I love making fresh pasta, and I get excited when I discover new ways to make it. My spinach pasta was a hit, so I wanted to try making carrot pasta - sneak in those veggies where you can! I saw someone make these pasta roses on Carnival Eats and I knew I had to make them. I changed up the recipe a bit and they were absolutely beautiful and delicious. Plus, they were the perfect vessel for my creamy garlic parmesan sauce!
Here's how to make it:
Ingredients
For the pasta:
3-4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
3 large eggs
3-4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 TSP kosher salt
For the roses:
1 package pepperoni (I use turkey pepperoni)
6-8 oz. sliced prosciutto
12 slices mozzarella or provolone cheese
Instructions
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, add the carrots, reduce the heat, and simmer until fork tender, about 8-10 minutes.
Drain the carrots and puree them in a food processor. Reserve 1/2 cup of the carrot puree and discard any excess, or keep it to use in another recipe (I'm not a fan of wasting food).
Add the carrot puree and eggs to the food processor and mix until fully combined.
Add 3 cups of flour and salt and pulse until a dough forms.
Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 2-3 minutes until the dough is smooth. If the dough is too sticky, add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it's a bit firmer.
Form the dough into a round disk, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes (or you can refrigerate it overnight if you want to make it the next day, but be sure to let it sit at room temp for 20-30 minutes before using).
Divide the pasta dough into 3 pieces. Add a bit of flour to the top of the dough and roll each piece of dough until about 12" wide by 6-8" long and approximately 1/16" thick (not too thin).
Trim the edges of the pasta so you have a perfect rectangle, then use a knife or pizza roller to cut the pasta sheets into four 3" wide pieces.
Place each piece on a floured baking sheet or surface and let dry at room temp for about 8-10 minutes.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Cook 3-4 pieces at a time for 2 minutes until al denté and then place each piece in a large bowl with olive oil. Make sure each piece has a bit of oil on it so they don't stick together (if there's too much oil on them when you start making the roses, use a paper towel to carefully dab it up).
Place the pasta on a flat surface and add the cheese - tear each slice in half and put each half length-wise on the pasta so it's completely covering it.
Add a slice of prosciutto to the bottom half of the pasta and about 3 slices of pepperoni to the top.
Starting at the bottom of the pasta piece, carefully roll it up, and stick a toothpick through the middle to keep everything intact.
Preheat your oven to 375° F.
Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and ladle a small portion of the garlic parmesan sauce into each cup.
Place each pasta roll in the tin. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut across the top, about 1/2"-1" deep.
Ladle more garlic parmesan sauce on top of each roll and, using the back of the ladle, smoosh the top down so you see "petals".
Bake the roses for about 25 minutes, until the pasta is fully cooked and the cheese is melted.
Remove the roses (and the toothpicks!), place on a plate and add more sauce. Enjoy!
Did you make these? Share pics in the comments!