Name: Herb Pasta (Pâtes aux Herbes)
Yield: Servings: 3 or 4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 ounces green things, in approximately equal quantities, pounded to a paste in a mortar (about 1 cup, pounded): sorrel, wild chicory, dandelion, rocket (or arugula), basil leaves and flowers, etc.—plus a leaf or two of lovage, purslane, leaf thyme, hyssop, fresh marjoram, burnet, young fuzzy borage leaves (before they become prickly) . . .; Flour (for rolling out); 1 tablespoon olive oil (for the cooking water); About 2 tablespoons warm water; 1 egg; Salt; 1¾ cups flour

Preparation info

Servings:
3 or 4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Simple French Food

By Richard Olney

Published 1974

About

This dough should not be rolled out on a machine—the uncompromising rollers force it into an amalgam in which the singleness of the savors is lost and flour is absorbed to excess. Also, it is better to pound the herbs in a mortar rather than purée them with the liquids in a blender—they remain, pounded, distinct and multiflavored fragments.

The herbs mentioned should be considered as among the many possibilities—any wild salad greens may be used and other herbs, depending on persona