Spinach Pasta Sheets
Silky, spinach-green pasta rolled out so thin it's almost sheer - fragile rather than tough, and stunning to look at.
Makes: approximately 30 lasagne sheets
Prep time: 45 minutes, plus 1 hour resting
Cook time: N/A (sheets are cooked when used in a finished dish)
INGREDIENTS
200g frozen spinach
5 egg yolks, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups (600g) fine pasta flour, plus extra for dusting
METHOD
Defrost the spinach, then purée until really fine and squeeze out as much moisture as possible.
Blend the puréed spinach with 2 of the egg yolks until smooth, with a little salt and pepper.
Whisk in the remaining 3 egg yolks until you have a smooth green purée.
Work the purée into the flour on the benchtop until the mixture is thick enough that it won't run, then bring together with a dough scraper and knead for about 25 minutes until smooth. The dough will be a little sticky from the egg and spinach - dust with extra flour on top before wrapping.
Wrap and rest for at least 1 hour.
Divide the dough into 6 portions and work each slowly through a pasta roller, down to the first setting. This pasta is fragile rather than elastic, so there's no need to be gentle with it - the first setting gives an almost sheer sheet.
HINTS
This dough is fragile rather than tough, so don't baby it through the roller - that delicacy is exactly what gives the sheets their almost-sheer, translucent quality.
Squeeze every bit of moisture out of the spinach before puréeing - too much liquid and the dough won't come together on the bench.
This recipe makes about 30 sheets. Freeze what you don't use in a freezer bag, or use the offcuts to cut custom-width pappardelle or fettuccine, or for ravioli.
NUTRITION (per recipe total, makes about 30 sheets - guide only):
Energy: approximately 10500kJ (2500 calories)
Protein: 90g
Fat: 30g
Saturated fat: 10g
Carbohydrates: 460g
Sugars: 5g
Fibre: 16g
Sodium: 700mg
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.