Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, Garlic and Cubed Chicken

Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, 
Garlic and Cubed Chicken
Originally uploaded by L.TON

Ahhh, the core GCC coursework is done, done and done! Congrats to all my fellow 1st years at Rush!! So what’s a girl to do with all this so called spare time? Okay, maybe not really because I still have a couple of papers and 3 exams to study for… but come on now, a little mental breather is well deserved!

I bought a 1 lbs bag of baby spinach this past weekend. If you’ve never seen 1 lb bags of spinach, well it’s A LOT. Eating it raw is the best way, but that’s also a lot of spinach to eat. Why not into some pasta form? Over all, this is a super easy recipe if you just go with the spinach/garlic/chicken part to top off some noodles, but if you really want to go for it, it doesn’t take much time at all for super fresh pasta. Pasta making from start to finish takes me about 1-1 ¼ hrs, resting time included.

Why butterflied chicken breast you may ask? Mainly because it just cooks faster. MUCH faster.

Also- this doesn't really make a "sauce" soooo you might want to have a jar of alfredo on the side.

The last time I made spinach pasta, or attempted to I should say, was in Santa Barbara at my Ladera house. Ah, what a nightmare. I still think that my pasta roller was possibly one of the best kitchen investments I’ve ever made.


Spinach Pasta Noodles with Wilted Spinach, Garlic and Cubed Chicken

ingredients For spinach pasta noodles:

2 cups fresh baby spinach
.25 c water
1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tblspn olive oil
2-3 c AP flour


ingredients For Spinach and garlic pasta sauté with cubed chicken

1 cup fresh spinach
2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
1 tblsn olive oil
2 chicken breasts, butterflied

pecorino romano or parmesan for topping


instructions: Pasta Noodles

1. in a pan, sauté baby spinach in the water and salt until cooked down and tender
2. let cool down, transfer into a blender and mix in egg
3. in your Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, make a well of flour with 2.25 c flour.
4. Pour in spinach/egg mixture into the well, add 1 tblspn olive oil
5. Mix on medium until dough forms
6. If the ball forms but feels sticky, add flour until the dough isn’t sticky anymore
7. Let rest for 15-30 minutes
8. Roll out into desired pasta noodle size (this time I went with a pappardelle)
9. Boil in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente (2-3 minutes)

Makes about 1 lbs pasta


instructions: Spinach, garlic and Chicken
1. In a large pan, heat olive oil, sear chicken breast until about 2/3 of the way cooked through
2. Remove from pan, let rest 1-2 minutes then cube
3. Return pan to stove, on medium high heat, sauté together cubed chicken and garlic.
4. Once chicken has heated all the way through, toss in spinach and sauté until wilted
5. Put sauté mixture on top of noodles, or alternatively toss into noodles.
6. Top of with cheese

Makes enough for 4 servings, ish.