The Magic Pasta Ingredient

Adding a handful of fresh herbs and edible calendula flower petals to dough will infuse pasta with so much flavor that the only additions you need to turn the dish into a meal are a little butter (OK, a lot of butter) and grated cheese.

Above: Add a handful of rough-chopped parsley and flower petals to dough before rolling it out. See Remodelista for a recipe for Calendula and Parsley Pasta. Photograph by Mimi Giboin.

Above: Parsley seed can be sprouted on a window sill. Seeds need warmth–and patience– to germinate (they could take three weeks to sprout). Soak Dark Green Italian Parsley seeds overnight in warm water before sowing thinly just below the surface in an organic seed-starting mix (to make your own, mix equal parts of sand, perlite, and peat). Add a spoonful each of superphosphate and of dolomitic lime to fertilize. A packet of seeds is $1.75 from Landreth. Image by Melkmeisterin, via Flickr.

Above: Store Calendula seed in an airtight container. A packet of seeds is $1.75 from Landreth. Image via Ifood.

Above: The common name for Calendula is pot marigold. Easy to grow, it is a Mediterranean native best sown directly in the garden, in partial shade or full sun. Image via Frugally Sustainable.

Above: Harvest petals individually to use in recipes. Image via Frugally Sustainable.

Above: Wash and dry leaves and petals before chopping. Photograph by Mimi Giboin.

Above: The herb-infused pasta is dressed simply with olive oil, butter, and shaved pecorino cheese. Some reserved chopped parsley and Calendula petals are sprinkled on the edge of the plate, as well. Photograph by Mimi Giboin.