After achieving success with homemade pasta, I feel much more comfortable with the whole process. I am very excited to try new variations. Different shapes, flavors, and fillings – I want to make it all! This spinach pasta is a great way to sneak an extra veggie into your meal. The spinach flavor is pretty mild. Definitely noticeable, but not overwhelming. I served this with a light alfredo sauce from America’s Test Kitchen. It had excellent flavor but was very thin. I think I will try a full-fat alfredo sauce next time. It would also be wonderful topped with some grilled chicken or mushrooms. Yum! This yields quite a bit of pasta, but it tastes excellent as leftovers as well.
Recipe Rewind: tried and true favorites I’ve made recently
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fresh Spinach Pasta
Yield: 1 1/2 lbs. dough
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp. water, plus more as needed
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 large eggs
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
Directions:
Wring all the liquid out of the spinach until it feels very dry. Finely chop spinach in the food processor or blender.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the spinach, 1 tablespoon water, olive oil, eggs, and flour. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are well mixed and a dough begins to form. If the mixture is not coming together add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time just until the dough is formed. Remove the dough from the mixer and transfer it to a work surface. Knead 1-2 minutes by hand.
Divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Flatten each piece with a rolling pin until it is flat enough to go through the pasta sheet roller at its widest setting. Run one piece of the dough through the sheet roller on its widest setting once (keep the rest of the dough covered with a kitchen towel to prevent drying out). Remove the sheet from the roller and lay it on the work surface lengthwise. Bring both outside edges into the middle, folding the sheet into thirds. Flatten with the rolling pin until flat enough to go through the sheet roller on the widest setting once again. Pass the folded sheet through the roller, open end first. Remove the sheet from the roller and lay it on the work surface lengthwise once again. Fold the sheet into thirds as before, flatten with the rolling pin and pass through the roller once again. Continue this pattern until the dough is smooth and supple, approximately six times total.
Pass the dough through the pasta sheet roller at narrowing widths (folding is no longer necessary), narrowing it one setting at a time, until the dough has reached the thinness you desire. (If at any time the sheet becomes too unwieldy, simply cut it in half and work with each half individually.) Set the sheet aside, cover with a towel and repeat the entire process with the remaining three segments of dough.
Once all the pasta sheets are finished, pass through a noodle cutter if desired.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente, 2-5 minutes. (I recommend testing a piece at a time, mine took even longer.) Drain well and serve.
Source: loosely based on the KitchenAid Pasta Attachment Instruction and Recipe Book
