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1
Spoon 2 2/3 cups of the flour into the work bowl of a large-capacity food processor fitted with the metal blade.
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2
Beat the eggs, olive oil, and salt together in a small bowl until blended.
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3
With the motor running, pour the egg mixture into the feed tube.
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4
Process until the ingredients form a rough and slightly sticky dough.
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5
If the mixture is too dry, drizzle a very small amount of warm water into the feed tube and continue processing.
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6
Scrape the dough out of the work bowl onto a lightly floured wooden or marble surface.
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7
(To mix the dough by hand, see below.)
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8
Knead the dough by gathering it into a compact ball, then pushing the ball away from you with the heels of your hands.
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9
Repeat the gathering-and-pushing motion several times, then press into the dough, first with the knuckles of one hand, then with the other, several times.
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10
Alternate between kneading and knuckling the dough until it is smooth, silky, and elasticit pulls back into shape when you stretch it.
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11
The process will require 5 to 10 minutes of constant kneading, slightly longer if you prepared the dough by hand.
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12
(Mixing the dough in a food processor gives the kneading process a little head start.)
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13
Flour the work surface and your hands lightly anytime the dough begins to stick while youre kneading.
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14
Roll the dough into a smooth ball and place in a small bowl.
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15
Cover with plastic wrap.
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16
Let the dough rest at least 1 hour at room temperature, or up to 1 day in the refrigerator, before rolling and shaping the pasta.
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17
If the dough has been refrigerated, let it stand at room temperature for about an hour before rolling and shaping.
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18
Pile 3 cups of flour in a mound on a marble or wooden surface.
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19
Make a well in the center of the mound, like a crater in a volcano, all the way to the work surface.
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20
Beat the eggs, olive oil, and salt together in a small bowl until the eggs are foamy.
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21
Pour them into the well.
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22
Beat the egg mixture with a fork while slowly incorporating the flour from the sides of the crater into the egg mixture.
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23
The more flour you incorporate, the thicker the egg mixture and the wider the well will become.
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24
Continue beating until the dough becomes too stiff to mix with a fork.
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25
If this happens before almost all of the flour is incorporated, drizzle a tiny amount of the warm water over the egg mixture and continue mixing.
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26
(It is possible you will not need any water at all.)
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27
Flour your hands well and knead the remaining flour into the dough until a rough and slightly sticky dough is formed.
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28
Shape the dough into a rough ball and set it aside.
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29
Sprinkle your hands generously with flour, rubbing them together to remove any remaining scraps of dough from your skin.
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30
Scrape any dough and flour from the kneading surface and pass all these scrapings through a sieve.
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31
Discard the scraps in the sieve and use the strained flour to continue kneading the dough.
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32
Make sure your hands are clean, and flour them lightly and knead the dough as described above.
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33
Wash 6 cups (lightly packed) stemmed fresh spinach in plenty of cool water, changing the water if necessary, to remove all traces of sand and grit.
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34
Drain the spinach well and transfer it, with just the water that clings to the leaves, to a large pot.
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35
Cover the pot and place it over medium heat.
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36
Cook, stirring the spinach once or twice, until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes after the water in the bottom of the pot begins steaming.
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37
Drain the spinach and let stand until cool enough to handle.
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38
Squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible with your hands.
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39
(The drier the spinach is, the less flour the pasta dough will absorb and the more tender the finished pasta will be.)
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40
Combine the eggs called for in the recipe and the squeezed spinach in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, and process until the spinach is finely chopped.
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41
Proceed as above, substituting the spinach-egg mixture for the eggs called for in the main recipe.
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42
It is likely the spinach-pasta dough will take a little more flour during mixing and kneading than egg-pasta dough, even if you have been very careful to squeeze out the water.
