Spinach Fettucini
Recipe of the week: Spinach Fettucine
Ok, why not. I like making homemade pasta, and I have lots of spinach. It's a natural! Total time was almost exactly 1 hour.
First of course was to use some spinach. I pulled apart the leaves of one of the bunches that I have. I just eyeballed how much I might need.
Ahh, 1/4 cup cooked spinach (which I ran through the food processor for a couple of seconds). Boiled for 3 minutes, then plunged into ice water to retain the nice color. Oh, I also added about 8 lemon balm leaves to the water. Why? I have no idea. I have lots of it, and I figured that lemon and spinach kind of go together. The lemon balm was removed for the pasta though. I'm not squeezing out the water because I always add water to my pasta dough anyways. Might as well keep some nutrients in there.
Next step is to make the dough. 2 cups '00' pasta flour and 2 eggs. That's about it. Add the spinach and keep about a 1/4 cup of warm water on hand. Add the eggs, mix. That took about 3 minutes to get it together. Then I spent about 4 minutes kneading the dough. Adding little bits of water if it seemed to need it. When it's all nice and doughy looking, let it rest for about 20 minutes, covered in plastic wrap. This will allow the flour to absorb the moisture and let the glutens do their thing. When 20 minutes are up, I section it off into 4 pieces.
The it's on to the pasta roller. You could use a rolling pin, but being Small Kitchen Cooking...we don't have that kind of space. We here have limited counter space, and a small kitchen island. Not shy with the flour at this point, because if it's not used, the pasta sticks together. I roll it a few times at each thickness, starting with the largest, and working down to the second smallest. One of the sections that I make turns into 2 nice sized sheets. This goes on the drying rack, and then into the roller again through the fettucine cutter. A knife would work fine if you have the space. Of course you can turn this into raviolis or tortellinis...etc. Voila, fresh spinach fettucine!
Sunday night dinner. Salad using all of the lettuces and peas...both types raw..., with chunks of feta, red onion, sliced almonds, and craisins. The dressing was a lemon-balm vinaigrette (again using up the lemon balm!). The tomato sauce made with a can of whole tomatoes, parsley, basil, and oregano from the garden, and the rest is a secret
Ok, why not. I like making homemade pasta, and I have lots of spinach. It's a natural! Total time was almost exactly 1 hour.
First of course was to use some spinach. I pulled apart the leaves of one of the bunches that I have. I just eyeballed how much I might need.
Ahh, 1/4 cup cooked spinach (which I ran through the food processor for a couple of seconds). Boiled for 3 minutes, then plunged into ice water to retain the nice color. Oh, I also added about 8 lemon balm leaves to the water. Why? I have no idea. I have lots of it, and I figured that lemon and spinach kind of go together. The lemon balm was removed for the pasta though. I'm not squeezing out the water because I always add water to my pasta dough anyways. Might as well keep some nutrients in there.
Next step is to make the dough. 2 cups '00' pasta flour and 2 eggs. That's about it. Add the spinach and keep about a 1/4 cup of warm water on hand. Add the eggs, mix. That took about 3 minutes to get it together. Then I spent about 4 minutes kneading the dough. Adding little bits of water if it seemed to need it. When it's all nice and doughy looking, let it rest for about 20 minutes, covered in plastic wrap. This will allow the flour to absorb the moisture and let the glutens do their thing. When 20 minutes are up, I section it off into 4 pieces.
The it's on to the pasta roller. You could use a rolling pin, but being Small Kitchen Cooking...we don't have that kind of space. We here have limited counter space, and a small kitchen island. Not shy with the flour at this point, because if it's not used, the pasta sticks together. I roll it a few times at each thickness, starting with the largest, and working down to the second smallest. One of the sections that I make turns into 2 nice sized sheets. This goes on the drying rack, and then into the roller again through the fettucine cutter. A knife would work fine if you have the space. Of course you can turn this into raviolis or tortellinis...etc. Voila, fresh spinach fettucine!
Sunday night dinner. Salad using all of the lettuces and peas...both types raw..., with chunks of feta, red onion, sliced almonds, and craisins. The dressing was a lemon-balm vinaigrette (again using up the lemon balm!). The tomato sauce made with a can of whole tomatoes, parsley, basil, and oregano from the garden, and the rest is a secret
Hi!
You had commented on my fiance's blog quite a few weeks ago- we're in Batavia and doing our CSA through Porter Farms too! I just wanted to tell you I love your site/blog/recipes. We checked out your site after your comment, and got inspired to get a pasta maker and make our own spinach fettucini! It was excellent. Take care =)
Kathleen
Reply to this
Thanks! I saw the spinach fettucine you guys made! http://chimerastation.blogspot.com/ right? It's really not as daunting as it seems. I still always end up coated in flour though, and there is always enough that finds it's way to the floor for the pets. That being said, I don't make it as often as I should. Next you can move on to raviolis.
Reply to this