Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Pasta
- 100 grams spinach
- 150 grams flour
Pasta Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 zucchini, halved and then finely sliced
- 400 grams cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 capsicum, cut into thin strips
- 50 grams pine nuts
- bunch fresh basil
- ½ cup passata sauce
- 40 grams parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place the spinach and flour into a food processor and blitz until a dough forms.
- To make the pasta, tear off 10c coin sized pieces of dough and roll them between your fingers to make thin little worms. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Place a large pot of salted water on to boil. Heat up a large fry pan on medium and add the olive oil to the pan.
- Add the garlic and chilli flakes to the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring to ensure the garlic doesn't start to burn.
- Add in the zucchini, capsicum and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the pine nuts.
- Take a ladle of boiling water and add it to the frying pan. Add the passata sauce and turn the heat to low while you cook the pasta.
- Add the spinach pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.
- Drain the pasta into a colander and then toss through the vegetable mix.
- Add a good handful of basil leaves and toss through
- Divide the dish between pasta bowls. Serve with the parmesan cheese grated over the top and a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves.
This rustic spinach pasta is packed with lovely fresh flavors, it’s super easy to make, and it’s a great way to get kids involved in the cooking process. The dish requires you to make your own spinach pasta, but it won’t require a fancy pasta maker. It’s also filled with a medley of succulent tender vegetables that just go incredibly well together.
Preparing the Spinach Pasta
To make the spinach pasta, you will need a food processor. Start by taking your spinach leaves and flour and adding them to the bowl of your processor. The store-bought bags of spinach work great for this here. Turn your food processor on and start to blitz the spinach leaves. It will take a bit of time but eventually it will come together to make a dough that has a very similar texture to playdough.
Note: Once the dough comes together, if it’s still very sticky, add a splash more flour and knead it into the dough.
With our completed dough, the next part to the process is to roll it out into a pasta shape. Tear off pieces of dough, about the size of a 10c coin. Take each ball between your hands and roll it out into a little worm like shape. Remember we are going for a rustic pasta here, and so they don’t have to be perfect. Getting your kids to help roll out the dough is also a great way to get them involved in the cooking process.
Cooking the Spinach Pasta
Start by placing a large pot of salted water on to boil. Take a large frying pan and place it over a medium heat. To the frying pan, add in the chilli flakes and minced garlic. Stir for 2-3 minutes, watching that the garlic doesn’t start to burn.
Next, take the sliced zucchini, capsicum and tomatoes and add them to the frying pan. Cook the vegetables for about 5 minutes until they are starting to soften and then add in the pinenuts.
Take a ladle of the boiling water from your pot and add it to the frypan. Pour in the passata sauce as well, give it a stir and then leave to simmer on a low heat while the pasta is cooked.
Add your spinach pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook until it is al dente, which takes about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta into a colander and then toss it through the vegetable mixture. Add in a good handful of fresh basil leaves and give everything one final toss through.
Divide the pasta between 4 pasta bowls and then grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top. Sprinkle some additional basil leaves over the top and then serve hot.
Recipe Variations
Here are some of my favorite variations I like to do when cooking this recipe:
- Add in diced eggplant, mushrooms or roasted onion. Experiment with your favorite combination of vegetables or use whatever you have in the fridge
- Instead of passata sauce, you can use leftover homemade pizza sauce.
- Add in some slices of chorizo or some whole prawns for a non-vegetarian version. If doing this fry the chorizo first, and then remove from the heat. Add the chorizo to the pan at the same time you add the pasta to the vegetables. For prawns, add them in just prior to adding the water and passata sauce.
