Best Lindas Spinach Pasta Fresca Recipes

NOODLES & CO. PASTA FRESCA

Steps:

• Sauté Instructions:
• In a very hot sauté pan, add: extra virgin olive oil, pre-cooked farfalle (bow-tie pasta), roma tomatoes, diced red onions, kosher salt & cracked pepper.
• Sear noodles, stirring occasionally until steaming hot.
• Add: baby fresh spinach, 1 oz. fresca sauce.
• Toss to combine, serve with freshly shaved parmesan cheese.
• FRESCA SAUCE: (for 15 servings) 1/4 cup fresh garlic, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup sweet white wine, 1 cup extra virgin olive oil.

HOMEMADE SPINACH PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and fill a medium bowl with ice water. Add the spinach to the pot and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds; drain, then plunge into the ice water. Once chilled, remove the spinach to a kitchen towel and squeeze until dry.
• Combine the blanched spinach, whole eggs and egg yolk, olive oil and a big pinch of salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Mound the flour on a work surface. Make a well in the center, 4 to 5 inches in diameter with high walls. Add the spinach mixture to the well and, using a fork, gradually mix flour from the inner edge of the well into the wet ingredients. Continue incorporating the flour until a rough sticky dough forms. Use a spatula or bench scraper to gather up any loose bits of flour and dough, then use your hands to gather and knead the whole thing together. (If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Knead until a smooth and slightly tacky bright green dough forms, about 6 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces; press each into a rough rectangle. Cover 3 of the pieces and set aside. Lightly flour the remaining piece of dough and feed the dough through the widest setting on a pasta maker. Fold the strip in half and feed it through again. Move to the next setting and feed the dough through this setting twice without folding, lightly flouring as needed. Repeat until you are at the third-to-last setting. The dough will be thin but not transparent, about 1/8 inch thick. Lightly flour the pasta sheet, then transfer to a floured baking sheet; halve the sheet crosswise if it's hanging off the baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
• Attach a long noodle cutter to the pasta maker. Feed each sheet of dough through the cutter, gathering the pasta on the other side. Lightly sprinkle with flour and shape into a loose nest. Return to the baking sheet.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, gently separating the strands with tongs. Cook until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain. Toss with your sauce, adding the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen.

PASTA FRESCA

Steps:

• Put a large pot of water on the boil for the pasta.
• Put aside 1 cup of the tomatoes and a couple of basil leaves.
• Puree the rest of the tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil in a blender until smooth.
• Season.
• When the pasta water is boiling, stir in the pasta and cook until al dente[approx 10 minutes].
• In the meantime cut the reserved basil into thin strips.
• Drain the cooked pasta and toss it immediately with the mozzarella.
• Add the sauce and mix well.
• Top with the reserved tomatoes and basil.
• Serve immediately.

FILOMENA'S PASTA FRESCA

Steps:

• Put the flour into the food processor and pulse five or six times.
• Add the eggs and pulse five or six times.
• Scrape the processor bowl and whiz the dough until it comes together. The dough should look crumbly and a little dry. Dry dough will work up faster and taste better with a wonderful texture. If dough won't hold it's shape after you squeeze it in your hand you can add a few drops of water until the consistency is good. On the other hand, you can add a few teaspoons of flour if the dough is too wet.
• Dump into a large zip lock baggie and press the dough together to form into a log.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
• Cut the log into eight slices and working with one piece at a time run each through your pasta kneader (setting #1) four or five times, folding over the ends each time to try to keep it somewhat square and uniform. The kneaded dough should be very smooth and luxurious feeling with no graininess or roughness. I will post pictures in a few days. Keep everything heavily floured.
• After you have all of your dough rolled on setting #1 proceed to roll the pieces to your desired thickness, starting on setting #2 and going up one or two settings at a time. I like them rolled to number 6 on my Kitchenaid Pasta attachement and number 7 on my Atlas Pasta maker. Keep the pasta floured to avoid sticking.
• Choose either fettucine (my fave) or spaghetti cutters and run the strips through the cutter making sure to keep them well floured and keep your work surface floured very well. Make sure the strands are all separated. In this case there is no such thing as too much flour.
• Let the pasta dry for a few minutes and separate into four servings.
• To eat right away, boil a large pot of water with a tablespoon of olive oil and two or three tablespoons of kosher salt. Check the pasta after one minute and continue checking until it is done to your liking. Most pastas are al dente in under three minutes. Drain, sauce and serve.
• TO STORE: Curl the pasta into little nests and freeze in small containers to avoid crushing and sticking together. Remember, you can't use too much flour.
• HINTS: 3/4 cups of flour and one large egg would equal one portion. Don't add salt to your dough to keep it very tender. Don't add oil to your dough or it will be more difficult to roll. Adding salt to the boiling water is important. To avoid boil-overs add the oil and salt to the water before you put the pot on the stove. Simple sauces are best with fresh pasta. I will post variations soon.

HOMEMADE SPINACH PASTA

Steps:

• Combine water and ice in a bowl. Preheat a skillet over medium heat; add spinach. Cook, stirring continuously, until spinach turns bright green, about 30 seconds. Plunge into ice water bath; remove when spinach is lukewarm. Squeeze out excess moisture with cheese cloth.
• Combine spinach, eggs, olive oil, and salt in a food processor; blend until smooth. Add flour; blend until dough no longer sticks to the blades, adding flour as needed.
• Roll dough into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Remove plastic wrap from dough. Transfer to a work surface generously dusted with flour; cut dough into 4 pieces with a sharp knife. Roll out dough with a rolling pin to 1/4-inch thickness; shape into rectangles.
• Dust pasta maker rollers with flour. Run the dough rectangles through a pasta maker on the widest setting. Repeat rolling dough through rollers, gradually reducing the setting to desired thickness. Change pasta maker's attachment to preferred noodle shape; cut pasta with pasta maker.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Lower pasta gently into water; use a spoon to keep noodles from sticking together. Cook until pasta is firm but soft, 3 to 6 minutes. Remove from the water with tongs; transfer to a bowl.