Spinach Fettuccine

You want scrumptious, reliable, and versatile? Here's your answer. This is one of our main recipes and can be used for all kinds of pasta. Take the time kneading and resting, and you'll be rewarded with a bouncy, delicious dough.

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Prep Time: 30

Resting Time: 30

Total Time: 1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Eggs, Fettuccine, Pasta, Spinach

Servings: people

Calories: 333kcal

Equipment

Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)
Kitchenaid pasta roller and cutter attachment (optional, instead of manual cutter or rolling pin)
Air tight container for resting
Food processor

Ingredients

250 g 00 flour plus up to 50g more depending on moisture left in spinach
100 g spinach blanched, thoroughly drained, and very finely chopped; substitute with frozen spinach
50 g semolina flour
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Mix the flours together with the salt, and make a well out of them on a large flat surface, or in a bowl.
To the well, add the spinach, oil, and eggs. For the single yolk, I recommend cracking the egg in half and then passing the yolk back and forth between the halves, allowing the white to fall loose.
Starting in the centre, use a fork or your hand to gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet. If you've already formed a ball of dough, but it remains sticky, keep adding flour at no more than a tablespoon at a time.
Once the dough can be handled without sticking to your fingers or the work surface, begin kneading. You may have to keep adding some flour if it you notice it getting sticky during kneading - this is very much a step best judged by feel.
To knead, I recommend putting your weight down and forwards into the dough using the heel of your hand. You are trying to roll it forwards and fold it over at the same time, so the motion is down, forwards, and then up at the end of the push. Fold the flattened dough back towards you and over itself as you repeat. You want 10 minutes of hard kneading to really develop the gluten.
After 10 minutes, as long as you eliminated any sticking early in the knead, you should be left with a smooth, shiny ball of dough that requires no additional flouring.
Seal it in a freezer bag, or any sealable plastic, and leave it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Try to keep it out of direct sunlight or heat, as that will cause the dough to sweat.
Cut the dough into four pieces, and return to the bag all but the single piece you'll begin working on. Using a pasta roller, or rolling pin, roll out and refold the dough 4-5 times into long strips. Think of this step as an extension of the kneading process. If on a machine, just keep putting it through the 0 setting, refolding as you go. Flour lightly if you notice it sticking, and don't worry if you get some tears - just keep refolding to cover the tears, and re-rolling with a light dusting of flour. You'll notice that the dough becomes easier to handle the more times it passes through.
Begin stepping up the settings on the machine, or if using a rolling pin, begin rolling thinner and thinner. I roll up to a machine setting of 5, but this will make quite thick pasta, so just keep going thinner if you prefer a lighter pasta. If you're rolling and cutting these by hand, remember to aim for long rectangular strips of the length you would like your fettuccine to be. The same applies to a machine, although the machine will dictate how wide each sheet will be.
Flour the sheets well, and pass through a fettuccine cutter. If you're not using a machine, gently fold the sheets up into a roll, short end to short end, one at a time; cut into the desired fettuccine width using a short knife, and then unroll your individual pieces of pasta.
Toss your cut pasta loosely in flour until well coated and not sticking together. I find that allowing it to repeatedly fall from a height between my fingers, scooping with flour in between, works well.
Transfer to a sheet of baking paper and store uncovered in the fridge for up to a week. Even overnight will add a bit of bite to the pasta. Alternatively, freeze immediately.
Always use plenty of water when cooking, as it will prevent you from losing the boil when you drop the pasta in. We highly recommend serving it with our signature tomato sauce and meatballs!

Notes

Full disclosure, we often eat double the serving size on pasta night... BUT we lead super active lives, and do watch our diets carefully. We also enjoy huge serves of cruciferous greens with all of our meals, and heartily recommend that you do the same.

Nutrition

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