Spinach Tagliatelle
By Tested and perfected in the Sur La Table kitchen
Spinach Tagliatelle
By Tested and perfected in the Sur La Table kitchen
Yield/Serves:
2-3 servings
- 3 ounces spinach, washed and trimmed
- 1/2 teaspoon fine kosher salt, plus more for salting water
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- Semolina flour, for dusting pasta and surfaces
Tagliatelle, pappardelle, tagliolini are just a few of our favorite hand-cut ribbon pasta. The only difference between the shapes is the width in which it is cut. Tagliatelle, meaning “cut” in Italian, is cut to 1/3-inch, pappardelle to 3/4-inch and tagliolini to 1/8-inch. The general rule of thumb for the sauce is the wider the ribbon, the heavier the sauce.
1. To blanch spinach: Fill a large pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Generously salt water. Add spinach to boiling water and cook until tender, about 30 seconds. Using tongs, transfer spinach to a colander and rinse under cold water. Thoroughly spin dry spinach in a salad spinner or wring dry in a clean kitchen towel.
2. To prepare dough: To the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, purée spinach. Add eggs and yolk to purée and process until well combined. Add flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and process until dough comes together, about 20 seconds.
3. Transfer dough to well-floured surface. Knead dough until it is smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding small amounts of flour as needed, 6 to 8 minutes. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap and allow dough to rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour at room temperature.
4. To roll out and cut dough: Secure a pasta machine to edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut dough into 2 pieces. Keep extra dough covered in plastic wrap while working with one piece. With a rolling pin or your hand, roll or flatten dough into a rough rectangle that will fit inside widest setting of pasta machine. Roll dough through machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with other. Take dough and trifold it like a letter. Turn dough so one open end faces machine and roll it through on widest setting again. Fold, turn and roll once more on the widest setting.
5. Continue rolling pasta through machine without folding, adjusting rollers to a smaller setting each time. Roll out each sheet to second to last thinnest setting. If pasta sheet becomes too large to handle, use a bench scraper to cut it into more manageable lengths and continue rolling.
6. To shape the tagliatelle: Liberally flour one sheet of pasta and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut roll into 1/3" ribbons. Unwrap ribbons, toss them with semolina flour and form into piles on baking sheets dusted with semolina. The pasta can be cooked immediately or covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before use.
7. To cook the pasta: To a large pot of water set over high heat, add water to 2/3 full and bring to a boil. Generously season water with salt. Add pasta and stir immediately to prevent tagliatelle from sticking together. Boil until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain pasta through a colander. Use reserved pasta water to thin your chosen pasta sauce.
1. To blanch spinach: Fill a large pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Generously salt water. Add spinach to boiling water and cook until tender, about 30 seconds. Using tongs, transfer spinach to a colander and rinse under cold water. Thoroughly spin dry spinach in a salad spinner or wring dry in a clean kitchen towel.
2. To prepare dough: To the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, purée spinach. Add eggs and yolk to purée and process until well combined. Add flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and process until dough comes together, about 20 seconds.
3. Transfer dough to well-floured surface. Knead dough until it is smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding small amounts of flour as needed, 6 to 8 minutes. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap and allow dough to rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour at room temperature.
4. To roll out and cut dough: Secure a pasta machine to edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut dough into 2 pieces. Keep extra dough covered in plastic wrap while working with one piece. With a rolling pin or your hand, roll or flatten dough into a rough rectangle that will fit inside widest setting of pasta machine. Roll dough through machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with other. Take dough and trifold it like a letter. Turn dough so one open end faces machine and roll it through on widest setting again. Fold, turn and roll once more on the widest setting.
5. Continue rolling pasta through machine without folding, adjusting rollers to a smaller setting each time. Roll out each sheet to second to last thinnest setting. If pasta sheet becomes too large to handle, use a bench scraper to cut it into more manageable lengths and continue rolling.
6. To shape the tagliatelle: Liberally flour one sheet of pasta and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut roll into 1/3" ribbons. Unwrap ribbons, toss them with semolina flour and form into piles on baking sheets dusted with semolina. The pasta can be cooked immediately or covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before use.
7. To cook the pasta: To a large pot of water set over high heat, add water to 2/3 full and bring to a boil. Generously season water with salt. Add pasta and stir immediately to prevent tagliatelle from sticking together. Boil until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain pasta through a colander. Use reserved pasta water to thin your chosen pasta sauce.