It's Not Just For Sipping — Make Eye-Catching Pasta With Matcha Powder

While pricey matcha green tea powder is most often used to make beverages, it can also be incorporated into many more recipes than you might think. For example, matcha gives popcorn a vibrant upgrade, and in a similarly unexpected application, it may just be the best way to revolutionize pasta dishes. This method was revealed to us by River Robinson, the senior sous chef at Bricoleur Vineyards, who said that the combination of matcha and pasta is an untapped goldmine of flavor. 

"Adding matcha powder can impact flavor in a pasta dish by adding more umami and earthy notes," Robinson told The Takeout. He noted that some grades of matcha may be too sweet or too bitter for this use; selecting a well-balanced product is important so the flavor combines cohesively alongside other ingredients. "Finding one that is right in the middle will be perfect to incorporate with other flavors, such as ricotta cheese, goat cheese, classic brown butter and sage, or even making a miso butter sauce," he explained. Robinson also shared that citrus fruits like yuzu and lemon pair particularly well with a matcha pasta sauce. "Those two ingredients go lovely together. The umami balancing out with acid is a classic combo," he said.

When it comes to incorporating matcha into pasta dishes, sprinkling some powder into your sauce is just one of many ways to use it. Adding matcha into homemade pasta dough is an even better choice, according to River Robinson. He noted that the earthy flavor and bright green color are great additions to the pasta itself and that you can easily add complementary flavors to the sauce.

Robinson cautioned, however, that this additional powder could make the pasta drier than you would like, so taking precautions is key. "As for the texture, when I normally make different colored doughs, I tend to add a bit of extra water to some powders to make the pasta dough a little less dry," he explained. "My method has been to mix powders with eggs and add about 1 tablespoon of water to help with the moisture of the dough."