Chocolate pasta from scratch, with tomato and white bean sauce

Semi-recently, I read the book French Toast by Peta Mathias. The book focuses on French food, including regional specialities, variations and quirks, and recipes for some dishes were included throughout. French food is rather meat-heavy and the book shared that slant, but there were some recipes that caught my eye. Chocolate pasta was one of them. 

The idea of chocolate pasta had never crossed my mind before, but when I read about it I could see, instantly, that it had the potential to pair wonderfully with a thick tomato sauce. I committed myself to trying it, and last week the time for trying arrived.

Most online recipes for chocolate pasta are actually dessert-focused. Chocolate pasta with strawberry sauce, with chocolate sauce, with caramel sauce...there are lots of options available. Perhaps it says something about my taste buds that I am happy to take chocolate to my main course, but not to take pasta to my dessert!

This recipe for chocolate pasta in non-dessert form is extremely simple in many ways, but I was taken aback by how hard it was to roll and cut the pasta. In my imagination, it was like dough. In reality, it was thick and heavy and my arm strength was not up to thin enough rolling. Our pasta was thus rather thick, something that had run-on effects for our overall enjoyment of the meal.

Thicker than optimal pasta!

All in all, I don't think I would try this again without pasta making equipment, but it was certainly a novel dish and I would be keen to try a version with thinly pressed pasta in the future. The tomato-based sauce would have been enjoyable with any pasta, and I retain my belief that it is a better match than sweet toppings for chocolate pasta.

Chocolate pasta with 

tomato and white bean sauce

Pasta adapted from a recipe in Peta Mathias' French Toast

Vegan

Serves 2

Print recipe

Ingredients

For the pasta

1 cup plain flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch salt

1 tbsp chia seeds soaked in 1/4 cup water (soak for at least 15 minutes)

For the sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 carrot, diced

1 small yellow capsicum (pepper), thinly sliced

1 cup (~1/2 tin) crushed tomatoes

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

Dash of salt

1/2 cup (~1/3 tin) cooked white beans

Pepper, to serve

Method

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and salt and make a slight well in the centre. Add in the chia soaked in water and mix to combine. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes until the dough has softened slightly. Add a dash of extra water if required. Roll in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge for about an hour.

To make the sauce, saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil over medium-high heat, in a saucepan or non-stick pan. When golden, reduce the heat to low-medium and add in the tomatoes, herbs and vegetables. Cover and simmer over low heat for at least 15 minutes. Add the white beans and leave over low heat for a further 10 minutes.

To make the pasta, roll the chilled dough between two non-stick pieces of baking paper. You want the dough as flat as possible, ideally ~2mm. Cut into ribbons using a sharp knife, or use a pasta maker if you have one. Add the ribbons to a saucepan of hot water with a pinch of salt and cook for 2 - 6 minutes (longer if your pasta is thick!).

Serve the pasta with the sauce, and freshly cracked black pepper.

I think chilli would also go well in this sauce, but as Mr Bite isn't a big fan I left it out. If you have a household with different taste buds, it may be a nice addition.

Have you ever made pasta, in which case do you have any tips for me in relation to rolling and cutting the dough?

Or have you tried chocolate pasta yourself in the past?

This post is part of my Vegan Month of Food contributions for October 2012. 

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