Spinach pasta (pasta verde)

Spinach pasta, or pasta verde, is fresh egg pasta with the addition of cooked and finely chopped spinach. It can be used in a variety of pasta dishes such as lasagne, ravioli, cannelloni or can be cut into ribbons or other shapes of your choice. This spinach pasta recipe is sufficient for around two servings as part of a main course.

Ingredients

• 200g plain flour/all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling and dusting)
• 2 eggs
• A pinch of salt
• 100g fresh spinach (uncooked weight)

Equipment needed

In addition to basic kitchen equipment a pasta machine is useful to roll the pasta into sheets and cut into ribbons. If you don't have a pasta machine the dough can be rolled by hand using a rolling pin on a floured board, it will just take a little longer and requires a bit more effort.

How to prepare spinach pasta

Cook the spinach in a steamer for a couple of minutes or so until it has just wilted. Set aside to cool. Squeeze the excess liquid out of the spinach and then finely chop.

Place the flour, eggs, a pinch of salt and the finely chopped spinach into a large bowl.

Mix with a fork and then form the dough into a ball using your hands.

There may be some small lumps in the pasta dough at this stage but the dough will become smoother when it has been passed through the rollers of the pasta machine or when it has been rolled out several times with a rolling pin.

Using a pasta machine

Divide the spinach pasta dough into roughly three equal balls onto a well floured board. Roll each of the balls of dough in flour so that the pasta does not stick when it is passed through the rollers.

Take the first ball of dough and pass through the roller on the thickest setting. Fold the dough over itself and pass through the same setting several times until the dough feels smoother and has no lumps.

Pass through the machine again, and repeat reducing the thickness each time until the desired thickness is reached. I find that setting "5" is the best thickness for most recipes.

If you are going to use the pasta sheets whole such as for lasagne or cannelloni, then the pasta with spinach is now ready to be cooked and used in your recipe.

If you are preparing stuffed pasta such as ravioli, the pasta is now ready for you to proceed and add your filling.

If you are making pasta ribbons, pass through the relevant part of the pasta machine to create spinach pasta ribbons.

If you don't have a pasta machine

If you don't have a pasta machine you can still make your own pasta. Simply roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, fold the pasta over itself and then roll again. Repeat until the dough is smooth and lump free and then roll the dough until it is the thickness you would like.

To cook

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta sheets or pasta ribbons and cook for about 3 minutes or until al dente (still slightly firm when you bite into the pasta but not hard). Take care not to overcook the pasta as it will quickly become too soft and loose its texture. The exact cooking time will vary slightly depending on the thickness of the pasta. Drain the cooked spinach pasta sheets or ribbons into a colander and your pasta is now ready to use in your recipe. The pasta is now ready for you to assemble your lasagne or cannelloni and the cooked pasta ribbons are now ready to serve with the sauce of your choice.

Tips

1. It is better to steam the spinach rather than boil it to keep the amount of moisture to a minimum.
2. Keep the pasta and the board well floured to prevent the dough sticking to itself and anything else.
3. The prepared spinach pasta dough can be used straight away or it can be dried or frozen if you don't plan to use it straight away.