Everyone who watches their figure is familiar with such a plant as spinach. This leafy vegetable is especially popular in Europe and America. In our country, until a certain time, spinach was underestimated. And completely in vain. In addition to a large number of vitamins and minerals, spinach is rich in protein. 100 grams of green leaves contain almost 3 grams of protein, and this is much more than that found in legumes. At the same time, the calorie content of spinach is very low - only 23 kcal per 100 grams.
Spinach is widely used in cooking. From it you can cook soup, stuffing for roll and pies, sauce and salad. In Italy, a traditional pasta with spinach is prepared. In this dish, leafy vegetables are added both fresh and grated as a sauce. By the way, to cook green pasta, spinach is also added to it.
Spinach and cream pasta
This is the easiest, fastest and most delicious recipe for making pasta with spinach. A great option for a light dinner.
According to this
recipe, the paste is boiled in a large amount of water until half ready (150 g per 1 serving). At this time, you need to prepare spinach: rinse it under cold water and chop finely. Stir the chopped leaves in a pan in a small amount of butter. Then add 70 ml of fat cream, wait until the mass boils, and transfer the paste to it. Mix everything well, warm under a lid for a minute - and you can serve.
Spinach pasta, the recipe of which is offered above, will turn out even tastier if you sprinkle it with grated Parmesan or fresh herbs when serving. Bon Appetit!
Lean pasta with broccoli and spinach
To prepare this dish, pasta of any kind is suitable. It is boiled in a large amount of water until half ready (for 1 serving 150-200 g). At this time, you need to prepare a dressing for pasta.
To do this, boil broccoli in salted water, after having sorted the head of cabbage for inflorescences. While the cabbage is cooked (5 minutes), fry finely chopped garlic and onions in olive oil, then add parsley and broccoli, and after 2 minutes - spinach. Simmer for 3 minutes and remove from heat.
Put the spinach and broccoli dressing on the paste. Then sprinkle with parmesan and garnish with olives. The lean pasta is ready. This is a great dinner option for vegetarians and more.
Spinach and Cheese Pasta Recipe
For this dish you will need a special type of pasta - conchiglioni. These are pasta that resemble large shells in shape. They need to be stuffed with spinach and ricotta filling, and then sent for baking in the oven. By the way, you do not need to boil the paste beforehand.
First, garlic is fried in a pan with warmed olive oil. Then add about 300 g of frozen spinach to it, salt and pepper. When the dressing cools down a bit, you need to mix it with ricotta (250 g). Salt to taste and add nutmeg.
Make bechamel sauce. To do this, melt 30 g of butter in a pan, add 30 g of flour, fry a little and pour warm milk into the mixture. Do not stop stirring constantly so that lumps do not form. When the sauce is slightly thickened, remove from heat.
Stuff the conciglioni with spinach and ricotta filling. Place in a baking dish and pour in bechamel sauce. You can sprinkle grated Parmesan on top - and it's time to send to the oven. After 40 minutes, the spinach paste will be ready. Bon Appetit!
Chicken and Spinach Pasta
A real find for athletes will be pasta with dressing from spinach and chicken. This dish is not only tasty, but also rich in protein, and this is just what you need to build muscle.
First, fry a few slices of bacon in a pan. Then add the chopped chicken breast to the bacon. Fry for 5 minutes and then add spinach to the pan. Pour in 30 ml of cream and stew the dressing for 5 minutes.
While preparing the sauce, you need to boil the pasta. Put a dressing on top of it, sprinkle with grated cheese if desired. Pasta with spinach and chicken is ready. It can be served for lunch or dinner.
How to Make Spinach Pasta Dough
Those who like the taste of homemade pasta will love the following recipe for this dish. According to him, spinach is added directly to the dough, which from this acquires a beautiful emerald hue.
For
homemade pasta you will need 200-250 g of flour, 2 eggs, 100 g of fresh spinach, salt, boiling water. Remove the eggs from the refrigerator beforehand; all ingredients for the dough should be at the same room temperature.
First you need to prepare the spinach. To do this, rinse it under running water, then put it in a bowl and pour boiling water, leaving it in water for 2-3 minutes. At this time, prepare a bowl of ice water. Using a slotted spoon, shift the spinach from hot water to cold. This is done in order to preserve the bright green color of the plant. After that, spinach must be squeezed well and chopped in a blender. In total, 2-3 tablespoons of mashed green mass should be obtained.
Now you can start kneading the dough. To do this, sift the flour directly onto the table, form a slide with a recess from it, into which add salt, spinach and beat eggs. Knead the elastic dough with your hands. Form a ball out of it, which is wrapped in film and sent to the refrigerator for 2 hours. After this, take out the dough, roll it out thinly and make a paste with a rolling pin and knife or drive it through a special machine.
Spinach pasta is boiled in the same way as regular pasta. It can be served as a standalone dish - with or without sauce.