Homemade Spinach Fettuccine is made from scratch and is perfect with a creamy alfredo sauce or tasty marinara. This homemade pasta recipe is made with just three ingredients and has the brightest green color that is sure to be your new favorite.
Homemade Pasta Recipe
There is nothing like fresh homemade pasta. The flavor and texture of homemade pasta is nothing like the packaged dry pasta you buy in the store. Homemade pasta takes a bit of extra time and effort, so I don't make it all of the time. I reserve this Homemade Spinach Fettuccine and other fresh pasta for special occasions. When my husand was growing up, his favorite dinner was always fettuccine alfredo with spinach noodles. He would always request it for his birthday and now it's my daughter's absolute favorite too. Whenever it's her birthday, and sometimes not, she begs me to make this recipe.
Spinach Fettuccine from Scratch
Homemade pasta uses simple ingredients and is easy to put together. Basic pasta really only uses two ingredients; flour and eggs. From there, the flavor possibilities are endless. You can add all sorts of flavors to your pasta, such as spinach. For this Homemade Spinach Fettuccine, you can either use fresh spinach that has been cooked down or frozen spinach. Either way, make sure you drain your spinach as much as possible to remove any excess liquid. If you have too much liquid in the dough it will be sticky.
How to Make Homemade Spinach Fettuccine
There are four main steps to making Homemade Spinach Fettuccine. I will walk you through each main step plus provide some tips and tricks to help along the way. Pasta making may seem like a daunting task, but it's also a ton of fun!
Making the Dough
First, you need to put together your pasta dough. I like to use my Cuisinart Food Processor to do this because you can puree the spinach up first and then add the remaining ingredients to mix up the dough quickly and thoroughly. When putting the dough together, it's best to start with adding just two cups of the flour first and pulsing it together with the spinach and eggs. Then, you can add additional flour as needed until the dough comes together. Pulsing it works best so you can see the dough come together and make sure you don't overmix. The dough is done when it forms a ball and isn't sticky anymore. It's best to let the pasta rest for a bit after mixing before moving onto the next step. This makes sure the pasta easily rolls out and is not too tough.
Rolling Out the Dough
Once the dough is put together, then you will need to roll it out and then cut it. I have a Pasta Roller & Cutter Attachment Set that goes onto my stand mixer that easily rolls out the pasta dough thin and then also cuts it. You can also use a hand crank style pasta machine that will allow you to easily roll out your dough and then be hand cut or some come with cutting attachments as well.
Pasta rollers are numbered from 1-10, with 1 being the widest setting. You want to start at the widest setting and work your way down, one setting at a time until you achieve your desired thickness. First, cut the dough into 8 pieces so they are easier to work with and shape them into a rectangle. Then, you will put each rectangle through the roller once, fold it over twice, and put it back through the roller again. This helps to knead the dough and should be repeated a total of four times. If the dough gets sticky or rips along the way, sprinkle it with more flour and continue. Once your dough is kneaded, you can then put it through the next settings to thin it out to the desired thickness. I prefer using a 3 or 4 for fettuccine noodles.
Cutting the Noodles
Once all of your dough has been rolled out, you will need to either hand cut it or run it through using your cutting attachment. If you are hand cutting the pasta, it's best to fold up the pasta sheets a few times before cutting to make sure the noodles are evenly cut. If you are using a cutting attachment, then you will just run the sheets through and it will cut it for you. After cutting, I like to nest the noodles on a sheet pan to dry out for a bit before cooking. If the noodles are not cutting well or sticking together, add more flour. I also like to dust the nests a bit before letting them dry to prevent sticking as well.
Cooking Homemade Pasta
Now that your pasta is rolled and cut, you are ready to finish it up! Homemade pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta. They can be cooked in a large pot of boiling salted water just like dried noodles, but take about half of the time. For these fettuccine noodles, it should only take about 2-4 minutes for them to cook completely. You will know that they are done when they float to the top. Now, you can top it with whatever sauce you like. My personal favorite is my Homemade Alfredo Sauce or my Old School Italian Gravy but even just olive oil and a bit of parmesan cheese would be delicious too!
More Pasta Recipes...
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make Homemade Spinach Fettuccine. It's such a fun thing to do and it tastes so good! For more pasta recipes, check out these popular ones below:
- Roasted Asparagus & Pea Casarecce
- The Perfect Classic Italian Lasagna
- Roasted Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and give it a rating. I love to hear from each and every one of you! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as well, if you make any of my recipes. It makes my day to see all of your photos of the food you have made.
Happy Cooking!
Homemade Spinach Fettuccine
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 59 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Homemade Spinach Fettuccine is made from scratch and is perfect with a creamy alfredo sauce or tasty marinara!
Ingredients
- 3 ounces well drained cooked or frozen spinach (approximately 4 cups fresh spinach)
- 3 large whole eggs
- 2 - 2½ cups all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse spinach until pureed.
- Add eggs and 2 cups of the flour and pulse until the dough just comes together. Add in more flour as needed until the dough forms a ball and is no longer sticky.
- Remove dough from the food processor and turn out onto a floured surface. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces and form into rectangles. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Starting with the widest setting on your pasta roller (usually 1), run one of the rectangles of dough through the roller. Fold the dough in half and then in half again to make a smaller rectangle. Run the rectangle through the roller again and then repeat this process another three times until the dough is smooth. If the dough is sticking or if it starts to rip, sprinkle generously with flour and continue.
- Then, move the roller to the next setting (2) and run the pasta sheet through once to thin it out. Continue to do this with the next settings, until the desired thickness is acheived. A 3 or 4 is recommended for fettuccine noodles. Repeat the rolling process with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Next, run the rolled out pasta sheets through the cutter and separate the noodles. Add extra flour to the sheets if they are sticking together. Lay each set of cut noodles in nests on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let rest while preparing for cooking.
- Fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water and 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt. Place on the stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add in fresh noodles to the boiling salted water, return to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes or until noodles float to the top and are cooked through.
- Drain noodles from the pasta water and toss with your favorite sauce.
- Category: Main Course, Side Dish
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Calories: 351
Keywords: comfort food, pasta, spinach, sunday dinner, vegetarian
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