Let me first apologize for the totally craptastic pictures. I took these the next day and they are really not doing this dish justice.
Now that I've dabbled just a little in the breadmaking world, I felt I was ready to blow the dust off of my pasta rollers and make some noodles! Only I couldn't take the simple route. Nope, I wanted to make spinach pasta. I am in love with green pasta. I just looks so pretty!
I'm really bummed at how terrible these pictures are. Guess I'll just have to make more!
INGREDIENTS:
1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, cooked
1 T water, plus more as needed
1 T olive oil
4 eggs
4 c sifted AP flour
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 T 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 your hand until it is flat enough to go through the pasta sheet roller at its widest setting (usually setting number 1). Run one piece of the dough through the sheet roller on number one 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 hands 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.
Set the roller to the next setting (number 2). It's just a tad bit narrower. Everytime you run the dough through, set your roller back one number. We usually stop at number 6 because it's thin and becoming difficult to handle. But if your dough has reached the thinness you desire before number 6, you can stop there. (If at any time the sheet becomes too unwieldy, simply cut it in half and work with each half individually.)
Repeat the entire process with the remaining segments of dough.
Once all the pasta sheets are finished, pass through a noodle cutter.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente, 2-5 minutes. (I recommend testing a piece at a time, mine took even longer.) Drain well and serve.
VERDICT:
This pasta is truly amazing. I don't know if it tastes so good because of all the labor that goes into it or if it's just THAT good but I could not stop eating it! We had some friends over when we made this (fellow blogger Kim and her husband; have you gone to her blog yet?) and even they loved it! And Kim doesn't eat spinach!
This pasta is truly amazing. I don't know if it tastes so good because of all the labor that goes into it or if it's just THAT good but I could not stop eating it! We had some friends over when we made this (fellow blogger Kim and her husband; have you gone to her blog yet?) and even they loved it! And Kim doesn't eat spinach!
There is definitely work involved but the quality is so worth it. I may never buy pasta again!
I will admit that I was afraid of it not coming out like I had imagined. But it was really, really easy! It really only took about an hour to make and we got a LOT of pasta out of it. Definitely try this soon!
SERVED WITH:
SOURCE:
This was heavenly! And like ShoeFanatic said I don't like spinach, but it didn't taste like spinach which was great, it just tasted delicious :) Combined with her husbands homemade alfredo sauce my husband and I were in heaven!
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