When you've got nothing else to do ...

BEAUTIFUL BUT WHY?

Isn't that sort of wow! But then you start to think about it and wow becomes more like why? Because you can, and because it's pretty is the answer I reckon. I'm not sure about the tasty - that would depend on how you cooked it. Because I doubt very much that much of the taste of the herb would come through.

The photograph, and this one too, is, of course, from Donna Hay's 100th magazine. So stylish, so gorgeous. Well I think so anyway.

Actually its not really difficult to do. If you make your own pasta with a pasta machine, when you have rolled out your pasta to be thinnish, you put whatever herb you have chosen on one piece - arranged as decoratively as you can, place another sheet on top and continue rolling them. It's called laminating. Donna Hay suggests lightly brushing the bottom sheet with water before you place the herbs and the top sheet. I guess it would stick the top and bottom together rather better. You're supposed tp press the two sheets together well. Otherwise it might all slip out of place I suppose. She doesn't really tell you what to do with it when you've made it, though she does have one quick suggestion:

"Cut the pasta to your preferred shape and cook in salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and toss with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and finely grated parmesan."

I think she's right about keeping it simple - you would lose any flavour there was if you did anything different. But I think I would toss it with butter rather than oil into which you have tossed a bit more of the herb in question.

Others made it into ravioli or served it in a broth. and they said you could use flowers too. If you were making ravioli the filling would have to be plainish or you would not be able to taste the herbs. But then maybe it doesn't matter whether you taste them or not. Maybe it's all about the look.

floral ravioli

parsley pasta in broth

I think it could be quite fun to do. But as I say, I suspect the taste would be 'delicate' rather than robust. So next time you've got nothing better to do ...