The prettiest, springiest pasta.

A few weeks ago I watched this pasta making video and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to experiencing what I think is ASMR.

I then proceeded to make pasta dough and fail at constructing every short cut pasta shape I tried. He makes it look so effortless and beautiful and I surely did not. We had pappardelle that night.

But since then I’ve also been itching to make a spinach pasta dough because it’s just so vibrant! And I figured it was less risky than the squid ink variety. And while I’m making green pasta, I might as well throw a bunch of green stuff in there.

Spinach Pasta w/ Green Veggies (serves 6)

for the pasta

5 oz bag spinach, steamed

2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

big pinch of coarse salt

olive oil

for the “sauce”

3 tbs unsalted butter

1 small leek, chopped and cleaned

3 cloves minced garlic

1 bunch asparagus, chopped

2 cups snap peas

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

juice and zest of one lemon

1/4 cup chopped chives

1/4 cup chopped basil

Steam the spinach in a saucepan- it will only take a minute or two. Drain, and then squeeze as much water out as you can. If you have cheesecloth that works, or I just put it in my fine mesh strainer and push the water out with a spatula.

Of course I have a Hogwarts spatula. If I had gotten a tax refund this year I would have bought the entire Williams Sonoma line.

Once it has slightly cooled, place in a food processor with the eggs, 1 cup of the flour, and a big pinch of salt. Pulse to combine. Add the remainder of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it starts to come together. If it gets too dry, add a little olive oil to smooth it out.

Eventually you’ll have what looks like green Play-Doh. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

I used my beloved pasta maker attachments to turn this into linguine. I will say I had a little more trouble with this dough initially (more prone to crumbling, tearing) than the traditional one but it ended up working out fine.

In a large saucepan, heat the butter. Add the leeks and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or so on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Add the asparagus and the snap peas and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Add the lemon zest and juice, and a healthy handful of Parmesan. Stir and remove from heat.

Once you drop the pasta (in heavily salted boiling water) it should only need to cook for about 3-4 minutes. Move it directly into your veggies. Some of the pasta water transferring over is good- helps loosen everything up.

Serve with extra chives, basil, and Parmesan for garnish.

This has SO MUCH FLAVOR and so many beautiful greens. Feel free to swap any of the veggies, but I will say the peas gave it great crunch and were probably my favorite part. A perfect meatless meal.