Fresh Homemade Spinach Spaghetti

Italian food (or what most Americans consider to be Italian food) is commonly the sort of "go-to" food that can be easily whipped up, last minute, on a harried work night.  Comprised generally of pasta, a tomato based sauce and some sort of cheese (plus a meat, more times than not), this type of "Italian" food has been something I have cooked even before I could cook.  Easy.  Nothing to it.  Just boil some water, dump in some pasta, let it sit on the stove until it's limp and then drain and eat.  As I said, easy. 

In all of my chronicles of kitchen mishaps, I have never flubbed on this type of meal.  With that said, it has never been the most grand or exciting of meals, either.  Just something to quickly eat when I've had a busy day and feel too tired to make anything else.  Life can be rather hectic, after all.  Sometimes we can forget to slow down - we forget to start at the beginning.  But, most of the time, best intentions aside, we just run out of time.  At least, that's always been my excuse.

In all of the years of my eating pasta, I have always bought it from the store.  Skinner.  Barilla.  De Cecco.  Buitoni.  Even the "off" brands and store brands have done their job.  But never have I ventured into the land of home-made pasta.  And, why not?  I am no stranger to flour and eggs.  I bake some new concoction every week, with eggy hands and floury hair to tell the tale.  So, why has the task of making pasta always seemed so daunting?  Or so unimportant?  Or simply not worth the time?  Possibly because of the lovely brands mentioned above and the ease with which they can be bought.  After all, it's a battle of $1 versus 1 hour.  My husband always likes to pose the question: which is worth more?  Usually I answer the latter: my time.  On this day, however, I stepped aside from my role as musti-tasker, efficiency chief, family organizer and general time warden to enter into the realm of the "old school."  A time before Buitoni in a land without a grocery store - my house, my dough, my pasta.  And, the result was simply gratifying.  Perhaps not the greatest pasta ever made, it still ranked higher than the others in my mind because of my own toils.  And the achievement of doing something (even if it's street value is only $1) still feels pretty good! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canned spinach, drained and patted dry
• 2 cups semolina flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. water

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, chop the spinach until finely ground.
2. Add flour, eggs, water and spinach into a mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed for two minutes.  Continue to knead the dough by hand for two minutes.
3. Roll dough into walnut sized pieces and put aside. 
4. With the pasta-making attachment (KitchenAid), push the balls of dough through the press one at a time, cutting after the desired length of dough has been achieved.  Add flour after each time for easier separation of pasta threads.
5. To cook the pasta immediately, heat a large pot of water on the stove.  Add pasta once the water reaches a boil and allow to cook for 2-5 minutes.