Fresh Green and White Fettuccine
Fresh pasta is just like any other dough, fun to make and easy to handle. Pasta machines are fun, but you can make pasta the old fashioned way. All you need is a rolling pin and some patience. Serve fresh fettuccine with tomato basil sauce or this simple basil and parsley pesto.
White Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 cups semolina flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅔ cup water + 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the white flour, semolina flour, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, and water.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir together until a rough-looking dough forms.
- On a clean, lightly floured work surface knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, until it is no longer sticky.
- Cover the dough with a clean cloth and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.
Green Fettuccine
Add a twist to your fettuccine by tossing in some green fettuccine noodles! This recipe uses cooked fresh spinach leaves to give the noodles their green color.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 1 cup semolina flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat a small amount of water until boiling. Add the spinach and cook, covered, for 1 to 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted, but still bright green.
- Use a strainer to drain the spinach, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Chop the spinach.
- Follow the instructions for the white fettuccine dough, but add the chopped spinach to the egg, olive oil, and water.
- Follow the directions for mixing, kneading, and cutting the white fettuccine dough.
To make fettuccine with a hand crank pasta machine:
- Start with setting #1. Flatten each piece of dough and put it through the machine. Fold each piece of dough in half and put it through the machine again. Remember to fold the dough in half before feeding it through the machine the second time.
- Change the pasta machine setting to #3. Feed each piece of dough through the machine two times at setting #3. Fold the dough in half before feeding it into the machine the second time.
- Change the machine setting to #5 and repeat.
- Move the hand crank to the fettuccine cutter on the pasta machine. Carefully feed each sheet of dough through the cutter. Hang the pasta over clean dowels or lay it in a single layer on cookie sheets dusted with semolina flour.
To make fettuccine using a rolling pin:
- On a clean work surface dusted with semolina flour, roll the dough into flat rectangular shape. Fold the dough into thirds and roll again.
- Repeat this folding and rolling process four to six times until the dough is very smooth and is about 1⁄16 inch thick. Sprinkle the finished piece with semolina flour and loosely roll up like a jellyroll.
- Use a sharp knife to “slice” through the rolled pasta dough every ¼ inch. Carefully unroll the fettuccine and hang over clean dowels or lay it in a single layer on cookie sheets dusted with semolina flour.
- Roll, fold, and cut the remaining pieces of dough as described above.
Cook the fettuccine:
- Measure 12 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt.
- Add the fettuccine and stir once.
- Cook the pasta over high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until “al dente.”
- Drain the pasta in a colander.
- Serve immediately.
