Super green pasta

With pureed spinach in the pasta dough and many green things in the sauce, there's an abundance of veg in this fresh, bright, nutritious and delicious dish.

Super green pasta. Credit: Mary Makes It Easy / Geoff George

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Pasta

• 2 cups (300 g) frozen spinach, thawed overnight or in the microwave
• 2 eggs
• Kosher salt
• 3-3½ cups (390-455 g) ‘00’ or plain (all-purpose) flour

 

Sauce

• 1 cup (150 g) frozen peas, thawed overnight or in the microwave
• 2 cups (500 ml) lightly packed basil
• ½ cup (125 ml) lightly packed parsley
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup (34 g) pine nuts or pistachios
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• ½ cup (40 g) finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• ¼-½ cup (60-125 ml) olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Cherry tomatoes, optional
• Fresh herbs, optional

Resting time: 20 minutes.

Instructions

1. Using a piece of cheesecloth or a few pieces of paper towel, wring out spinach. Transfer the spinach to a food processor fitted with a steel blade along with the eggs and 1 teaspoon salt and process into a smooth purée. Add in 3 cups of flour and pulse to combine, adding more flour if the dough is sticky and a splash of water if the dough is dry. You are looking for the dough to be about the same consistency as that dough you used to play with as a kid.
2. Remove the dough from the processor, cover with a clean kitchen towel or upturned bowl, and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and prepare the sauce.
4. For the sauce, rinse out your food processor and add in the peas, basil, parsley, garlic, pine nuts and lemon zest. Pulse to finely chop. Add in the lemon juice, Parmigiano Reggiano and ¼ cup of olive oil and process into a smooth, thick pesto, adding more oil if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Retrieve the dough. Tear off small pieces of dough that are roughly the size of a larger marble and, working on a lightly floured work surface, use your hand to roll into a thick spaghetti-shaped length that is slightly tapered on the ends. Alternatively, divide the dough in four and roll each to a 6 mm (scant ¼-inch) thickness. Cut each section into strips and roll each into a thick spaghetti-shaped length that is slightly tapered on the ends. This shape of hand-rolled pasta is known as pinci and is not supposed to be uniform or perfect – you just want the pieces to be about the same thickness so that they cook evenly.
6. When all the dough has been rolled, add into the boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes or until al dente. Use a glass measuring cup to reserve about 1½ to 2 cups of the pasta cooking liquid then drain the pasta.
7. Transfer the pasta back into the pot along with the pesto and stir to combine, adding a few splashes of the reserved cooking liquid until the sauce is creamy and evenly coats the noodles.
8. Serve topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano as well as some fresh tomatoes and herbs, if you’d like.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.