Spinach Pasta

1 pound spinach, washed and trimmed
Salt for water, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dough
2 large eggs
2 to 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Blanch the spinach in a large pot of salted boiling water for 1 minute.  Transfer it with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water to cool, then drain it.  Squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands or in a dish towel.  Combine the spinach and eggs in a blender or food processor; process until the spinach is finely chopped.

In a bowl or mixer (or continue in the processor), add the 1/2 teaspoon salt and then the 2 cups flour.  Knead the dough, by hand or in a mixer, until smooth but slightly tacky in the center. (In a processor, process for 60 seconds, using the dough blade.)  Add more flour as needed if dough is too sticky. Wrap the pasta in a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper, and set it aside for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours, for the gluten to relax.

Cut the dough into eighths and keep them covered.  Flatten one piece of dough into a rectangle, then feed it through the smooth cylinders of a hand-crank pasta machine set on the widest setting.  Do this 2-3 times, flouring the dough as needed if it sticks.  Decrease the setting on the machine by one notch and feed the dough through the cylinders again.  Repeat, decreasing the setting by one notch each tie.  Roll the pasta through all but the last notch.  Lay the sheets of pasta out on a lightly floured surface and cover with clean, damp, kitchen towels.

Makes 1 pound pasta.

From Canal House Cooking, Volume 7 (La Dolce Vita), by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, with very minor changes