Are you tired of your pasta looking dull and lifeless?
Prepare yourself, because your plate of Italian goodness will never be boring ever again – it’s time to take some advice from the pasta queen, namely Fiona Afshar.
The self-taught programmer-turned-florist-turned-pasta-extraordinaire, regularly shares her cooking skills on Instagram with her 94,300 followers, where she teaches them how to make everything from blue and yellow caramelle pasta stuffed with superfoods, rainbow farfalle and striped paccheri pasta.
‘Pasta-making is very special, magical, and therapeutic,’ the social media influencer, who lives in Malibu, told Insider.
Back in 2019, she started sharing tutorials on how to make pasta on YouTube and she quickly turned into a cooking sensation, and has now even written a book on her favourite ingredient.
Fiona herself first learned how to make pasta by watching videos at home.
She said: ‘Pasta is a really convenient meal.
‘You can make it ahead of time and it keeps really well in the fridge for over a week, or you could put it in the freezer for up to three months.
‘The magic happens when you’re starting to shape it and see it magically come to life into shapes that we’re really familiar with.
‘Fettuccine, rigatoni, fusilli, pappardelle, ravioli, and the list goes on. You can even create your own shape!’
To make your own pasta, you need four ingredients to start with, according to the chef: ‘eggs, flour, salt, and oil’.
To add colour to your creation, use vegetables such as spinach, kale and herbs like parsley for green shades or roasted beets or red peppers for red shades.
You can also utilise dried vegetable powders to get a stronger colour.
For purple, you need to mix a red vegetable with a blue item, such as blueberries or blue spirulina, while for pink, Fiona’s go-to is dragon-fruit powder.
Fiona said: ‘I just added the extras to bring the colours out but that’s completely optional.
‘I love my local farmer’s market; I go in and I get ideas.’
To achieve the patterns and shapes, Fiona recommends cookie cutters or household objects including piping tips or bottle caps.
But cut your pasta shapes smaller than you want the finished result, as it will stretch once you get to work and roll it.
And don’t fret if you don’t have a pasta machine – you can simply use a rolling pin and knife to create your shapes.
‘I love making agnolotti,’ Fiona added.
‘Those are so much fun to make because within minutes you can make like 50.
‘The shape that comes to life after five minutes — it’s like “Woah!”.
‘The magic of pasta is that you don’t need anything special.
‘You don’t need to go out there and buy expensive tools.’
‘Be persistent with pasta,’ she added.
‘Have patience. Pasta-making is fun, it’s playful, and it’s delicious! Don’t miss out on it.’
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