There are lots of recipes out there for spinach pasta that seem really cool because you wind up with green noodles. Yeah, that’s great, but if I’m going through the time and effort to add something to my pasta, I want it to have flavor. Spinach pasta really doesn’t add any taste, it’s just green. So a few years back I decided to add fresh basil to my pasta dough. Not only does it look beautiful, but you can also taste the basil in every bite, and you don’t have to over-sauce the pasta; a little olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, some sweet tomatoes and you’ve got a great dish.

3 large eggs beaten

2 1/4 c AP flour plus some for your board

1 cup chopped fresh basil (about 4 oz) no stems

1 tbls olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

1/4 c water

Add the eggs, zest and basil to a mixing bowl or food processor with a paddle attachment. Add 2 cups of the flour, the salt, and mix or process until it forms a ball. If the ball is too sticky add the other 1/4 cup of flour, too dry add half the water and process for another 30 seconds. Flour you work surface, transfer the ball to the surface and knead it for about a minute, then cut the ball in half and wrap both halves in cellophane. Let sit for 20-30 minutes (longer if still a little dry).  Cut the 2 halves in half again, and begin rolling through the “sheeter” of you pasta machine. Roll each ball out up to the # 3 setting on your machine and lay on your floured work surface, covered with a kitchen towel. Attach the cutting head to your machine. Use a wide noodle as the fresh basil with not cut cleanly and thin noodles will not separate (hand cutting is a good option if you have trouble separating the noodles).  Run the sheets through and hang on a rack, lay on a floured surface or toss immediately into boiling salted water for 1 minute. Remove the noodles and strain the water, then and toss with olive oil in a large bowl to coat until ready to use.

Enjoy -RTK