Learn how to make spinach pasta dough recipe just as it is made in Italy. We give you all the tips and tricks so that it comes out perfect to surprise your guests!

Making homemade fresh pasta is very easy, even if you don’t have a pasta maker machine. In addition, it is very satisfying and you can include the little ones in the preparation, a very fun way to spend time with your family and friends.

What is fresh green pasta?

Fresh green pasta is one of the staples of Italian cuisine, this type of pasta is normally prepared like a normal pasta all’uovo (homemade pasta with eggs) with the difference that a spinach puree is added to give it that intense green, beautiful color.

Said color can also be obtained with other types of leafy vegetables such as chard or even with fresh herbs like parsley, basil, etc. Although, spinach is the most used ingredient for this purpose since its flavor is quite neutral, which helps to obtain a pasta that is suitable for almost all types of sauces.

For example, you can make Lasagna Bolognese just as in Emilia Romagna using this spinach pasta dough recipe.

Important details

For the spinach pasta dough recipe it is only necessary to take into account a couple of details:

The first and more importan is that the spinach provides moisture, so you have to pay special attention when preparing the dough and not overdo it adding too much water, actually, depending in the flour you using, you might not need water at all.

The second is that the egg yolk tends to add a strong yellow color and for that reason, instead of putting one egg for every 100 gr of flour (as is normal for fresh egg pasta), we will add a little less to avoid a rare color mix and get instead a nice and bright green.

Spinach Pasta Dough Recipe

Important: The ingredients list with the exact measurements can be found below, in the recipe card. Please take in mind that while I posted the measurements also in US cups, if you want better results, I strongly suggest to use a kitchen scale instead.

Wash throughly the spinach and boil them in water with salt until they’re very tender and mushy.

Fresh spinach on a colander. Spinach boiling in water.

Remove them from the hot water and place them in a colander to get rid of the excess of water. Gently press them with a spoon until all water is discarded.

After all water is gone, proceed to press the spinach through a strainer into a bowl, this need to be done when the spinach are still very hot, otherwise it won’t be as easy.

You can also leave them to cool down then place them in a food processor and pulse until you’ll obtain a smooth puree. In this case, you won’t need to discard all the liquid.

Preparing spinach puree.

Sift the flour and semolina together and then place them into a mound on a work surface. Make a well in the center then add the eggs, the spinach puree and a pinch of salt.

Start working the dough by mixing the ingredients first with a fork until incorporated.

Mixing flour, eggs and spinach puree with a fork.

Now with your hands start incorporating the flour and knead adding -only if you see is needed- some teaspoons of water.

You going to need a good 15 minutes of kneading at this stage or you can also use a stand mixer and knead with it for about 7-8 minutes.

Kneading the dough.

Once you’ll achieve a very smooth and elastic dough form a ball and let it rest for about 30-40 minutes covered with a damp kitchen towel before you proceed to cut it into your favourite type of pasta format.

The dough ready and the dough in a ball.

After the dough have rested you’ll notice is a lot more soft and easy to work with. So you your spinach pasta dough recipe is ready and you can now roll it and cut it with a pasta maker machine or by hand.

Cutting the dough with a pasta maker machine.

How to cut it

Use a pasta maker machine to cut the dough into spaghetti, sheets for lasagna, tagliatelle, tonnarelli, etc.

Or, if you don’t have a pasta maker machine you can also do it by hand, even for short foments like farfalle, ravioli, trofie, etc, Read our useful guide to how make pasta fresca at home and how to cut it manually.

Cutting taglietelle with a pasta maker machine.

How to store it

It is very easy to keep fresh spinach pasta and have it available to use at another time. So, don’t need to rest the dough after you make it, just wrap it tightly with cling film and place if in the freezer where it can stay for about 2 months.

You can also cut it into sheets and wrap them individually to prevent them from sticking, or make tagliatelle and “nest” them before freezing. Take in mind you’ll need to flour very well the dough, specially if you cut it into spaghetti or tagliatelle before freezing, to prevent them from sticking to each other.

You won’t need to defrost the dough if it’s already cut, just throw it into the boiling water. But, if you freezing the dough as in a ball you’ll need to defrost it (preferably overnight) before rolling it and cutting.

Recipe Notes

  • One of the most common problems about preparing fresh pasta dough at home is that the dough tends to dry out, either when it is resting or when we are rolling and cutting it. To avoid this, it is necessary to work in a place where there are no air flows and to cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel.
  • To prevent the pasta from sticking together, for example when preparing spaghetti or tagliatelle, it is important to sprinkle it very well with flour or better yet, semolina.
  • The texture and color of the pasta will be due in part to how you make the puree: Passing it through the strainer results in a bit “rustic” texture and appearance, with bits of spinach that I personally like a lot. But if you have used a blender the color it is more even, as in some of the pictures above.

Spinach Pasta Dough Recipe | Step by Step

4
Learn how to make spinach pasta dough recipe just as it is made in Italy. We give you all the tips and tricks so that it comes out perfect to surprise your guests!
prep 30 minutes
total 30 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 200 gr (1 ⅓ cup) all purpose flour
  • 100 gr (½ cup+1 tsp) semolina flour
  • 2 medium eggs (about 120 gr)
  • 60 gr (2 cup, no packed) fresh spinach
  • Salt

Instructions
 

  • Wash throughly the spinach and boil them in water with salt until they’re very tender and mushy.
  • Remove them from the hot water and place them in a colander to get rid of the excess of water. Gently press them with a spoon until all water is discarded.
  • After all water is gone, proceed to press the spinach through a strainer into a bowl, this need to be done when the spinach are still very hot, otherwise it won’t be as easy. You can also leave them to cool down then place them in a food processor and pulse until you’ll obtain a smooth puree.
  • Sift the flour and semolina together and then place them into a mound on a work surface.
  • Make a well in the center then add the eggs, the spinach puree and a pinch of salt.
  • Start working the dough by mixing the ingredients first with a fork until incorporated.
  • Now, with your hands, start incorporating the flour and knead adding -only if you see is needed- some teaspoons of water.
  • Once you’ll achieve a very smooth and elastic dough form a ball and let it rest for about 30-40 minutes covered with a damp kitchen towel before you proceed to cut it into your favourite type of pasta format.

Notes

  • One of the most common problems about preparing fresh pasta dough at home is that the dough tends to dry out, either when it is resting or when we are rolling and cutting it. To avoid this, it is necessary to work in a place where there are no air flows and to cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel.
  • To prevent the pasta from sticking together, for example when preparing spaghetti or tagliatelle, it is important to sprinkle it very well with flour or better yet, semolina.
  • The texture and color of the pasta will be due in part to how you make the puree: Passing it through the strainer results in a bit “rustic” texture and appearance, with bits of spinach that I personally like a lot. But if you have used a blender the color it is more even, as in some of the pictures above.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 299kcal
rate this recipeScroll down and leave a comment with stars!

Join now my email list  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    As a lover of Italian Cuisine, when I find out that this spinach pasta dough recipe doesn’t need a pasta maker, I ran! To the nearest store to buy all the ingredients needed! And when I tell you it turned out perfect, it turned out perfect! I swear this recipe is so helpful! The step-by-step procedures really helped to make it perfect.