This Homemade Spinach Pasta is so good…and healthy!
I love to eat fresh, tender, homemade pasta noodles drizzled with a little olive oil and topped with shredded Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and please leave a comment below if you found a way to make this even more delicious.
Simple Ingredients in Homemade Spinach Pasta
The one deviation I make in this recipe over a traditional pasta recipe is the use of durum wheat semolina flour. This flour is more coarse and produces a noodle that is a little more hearty.
Feel free to substitute all-purpose or “00” flour if you prefer pasta with a lighter texture.
Everything you need to make this recipe is probably already in your kitchen:
- Fresh Spinach
- Eggs
- Semolina Flour
- Salt
Fresh Pasta vs Dry Pasta
Fresh Pasta (Homemade Pasta)
Fresh pasta is best when it is served with light, delicate sauces. This allows the texture of the pasta to really shine. One example is my Spinach Fettuccine with Cauliflower and Olives recipe with fresh vegetables and simple olive oil as the sauce.
Fresh Pasta is typically made from a simple dough of all purpose flour and eggs. It is kneaded like bread dough, rolled until it’s as thin as desired, and cut into noodles or whatever shape is needed.
Dry Pasta (Factory Made Pasta)
Dry pasta is best when served with thick, hearty sauces like ragu, in soups, or in casseroles.
Dry pasta is usually made with water and a finely ground semolina flour. It is not typically made with eggs. This dough is more of a paste consistency and is processed through molds, dried, and packaged for later use.
Pasta Around the World
Pasta (and noodles) are enjoyed all over the world and come in many different varieties:
- Spaetzle in Germany
- Udon and Buckwheat Soba in Japan
- Mein in China
- Pierogi in Poland
- Pancit in the Philippines
- Gnocchi in Italy
- Pelmeli (pel’meni) in Russia
While Chinese noodles have been around for centuries, we generally think of Italy when we think of pasta dishes. In fact, the word “pasta” comes from the Italian phrase “paste alimentari”.
According to the International Pasta Organisation (IPO), there were 14.5 tons of pasta produced in the world in 2019. Wow!
See How to Make Spinach Pasta Dough
If you are a visual learner (like me), here is a quick video showing how to make this recipe.
Homemade Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 6 cups Fresh Spinach
- 5 Eggs
- 3½ cups Durum Wheat Semolina
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
Cook the Spinach
- Boil spinach in well-salted water until it is dark green and soft.
- Remove from water and let cool.
- Place spinach in a kitchen towel (or use paper towels) and squeeze, removing as much liquid as possible.
Puree Spinach and Eggs
- Transfer spinach to blender or deep bowl.
- Add Eggs.
- Blend on high until spinach and eggs are completely smooth (puree).
Mix the Dough
- Mound the flour on a kitchen work surface and make a well in the center.
- Pour spinach puree into the well.
- Slowly begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. A fork works well for this initial mixture.
- When all the mixture has been absorbed by the flour, start to knead with your hands. Continue to work the dough with the palm of your hand until it is completely combined.
- Form dough into a ball and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
- Let rest for 30-60 minutes. (Up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.)
Roll and Cut the Pasta
- Divide the dough into 5 pieces.
- On a floured surface, flatten one piece of dough with the palm of your hand.
- Dough should be close to a rectangle shape and approximately 0.25” (6mm) thick.
- Starting with the pasta roller at the widest setting, feed the pasta through the roller twice.
- NOTE: Dust dough with a little flour whenever it becomes sticky.
- Fold rounded ends of the dough toward the center to create square ends.
- Continue feeding the dough using the widest settings until the dough is smooth and it has a rectangular shape.
- Set the roller of the pasta machine to the next thinner position and feed the dough through the pasta machine twice, continue doing so until the 2nd to last setting. (Rolling through twice each time.)
- Cut the sheets of dough in half. Approximately 10-12” (25-30cm) in length.This will be the length of your noodles.
- Repeat all steps until all 5 pieces of dough have been rolled and cut.
- Let fresh pasta sheets dry for about 20 minutes.
- Dust the pasta sheets with flour and feed them in the fettuccine cutter one at time.
- Put each bundle of cut pasta in a large tray and dust with flour.
Cook the Pasta
- Boil water in a large pot.
- Add salt and the spinach pasta.
- Stir the pasta carefully, it is delicate.
- Fresh pasta cooks very quickly and should only remain in the water for 45-60 seconds.
- Remove pasta from the water and use immediately with the sauce of your choice.
- If pasta is too dry or sticking, add a little bit of cooking water.
Notes
- Semolina is a coarse grain and results in a heartier pasta.
- Substitute “00” Flour if you prefer a more delicate texture to your pasta.
Hello! Try making this recipe with half semolina and half 00 wheat flour. I believe you will like it.
Yes, that’s definitely a great choice for a pasta that’s a little bit “lighter” in texture.
Thank you for your comment.
Homemade pasta is the best!