This 2-Ingredient Homemade Pasta Is Too Easy Not To Try

Even some of the most adept home chefs don't attempt to make their own fresh pasta. Often, it takes a lot of time and effort, or you might think you need the hands of a nonna who's been making pasta since she could say "mangia!" But you can whip up delicious, homemade pasta with just a humble food processor and two ingredients: flour and spinach. Popeye would be pleased.

Of course, since they're the only ingredients, the kind of flour and spinach you use is of the utmost importance. Italian 00 flour is the ideal type to use for this and most other homemade pastas, since it's the style of Italian flour with the finest grind. As for the greens, it's important to use washed and thoroughly dried, ready-to-eat baby spinach. (If your spinach is wet, the dough will be too soft and won't come together.) If you can only find mature spinach, make sure you cut off the thick stalks before using.

The unlikely duo of flour and spinach converge in holy matrimony to make a dough that's bright green, packed with nutrients, and can be turned into fettuccine, lasagna sheets, or any other shape you'd like! (Just maybe not the world's oldest pasta shape.) Plus, this dough is suitable for vegans — thanks to the extra moisture in the spinach, there's no need for any eggs.

To make this chartreuse-colored pasta dough, you'll need two parts baby spinach and one part Italian 00 flour. (For a batch that serves four people, use about 3 cups of packed spinach and 1½ cups of flour.) Grind the flour and spinach in the food processor for a few minutes. It will look chalky at first, but the dough should eventually feel soft and sticky. If it's too dry, add more spinach and blend again.

Then, channel your inner nonna and knead the dough on a clean surface. As you knead, the gluten will activate and the dough will get firmer. After about 10 minutes, your dough should resemble Play-Doh, in both texture and color! If the dough is too wet, add a touch of flour. If it's too dry, add a bit of room-temp water to hydrate it.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Resting the dough is important because it lets the gluten relax, making the dough easier to work with. Once it's adequately rested, cut the dough in half and roll it out, thin enough to fit into the widest setting of the pasta roller. Dust it in flour, then run it through the roller several times until you get the ideal thickness for your noodle of choice.

And voila! You've got a tasty, homemade spinach pasta dough, perfect for tossing with a rich Alfredo sauce or an herbaceous basil pesto. Turns out, it's easy being green.