Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata

September 13, 2020

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Our pals at Rio Vista Olives sent us the incredible oil that we cook with in this post. Like everything that we recommend on our blog, we use and love their products, and hope that you will too!

The Story

Little Al and I were playing around with cookie cutters, making a lot of mess and noise, when we came up with this week’s shape. It’s kind of close to funghini pasta, so that’s what we’re calling it. We wanted to pair it with a rich, spicy arrabbiata sauce, and this shape allowed us to work in some two-tone laminated goodness of spinach and paprika doughs: one flavour to contrast with the sugo and one to complement. These fun guys were the result. And for something a little different, we separately fried the salami and basil for the sauce, serving it crumbled and stirred through. Nothing too tricky or too fancy, but a little bit interesting and particularly delicious!

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (1)

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (2)

The Pasta

If you remember our two-tone lemon zest and squid ink pasta, then this is basically the same process. We recommend that you initially blitz each dough’s ingredients together in a food processor to properly combine everything (and achieve a smooth, uniform colour), before giving it the usual 10 minutes of kneading and 30 of resting. You can of course mix it up by hand in an old flour well, but it might take you longer and the colour may not be as even in the final dough.

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (3)

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (4)

Then step it through your pasta machine, before laying one pasta on top of the other and passing them back through to laminate together.

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (5)

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (6)

To form the funghini, simply use a round cookie cutter to stamp out circles of pasta, before pinching two opposite edges together, and bringing the subsequently formed inner folds together to meet.

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (7)

The sauce is even easier. Just fry the basil leaves until bright green and the sopressa until crispy. Then remove them from the pan, drain, and use the remaining oil to fry up the garlic, adding the chilli flakes shortly before the passata, sugar, and salt. Give it 10-15 minutes on the stove, and you’re good to go.

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (8)

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (9)

Cook the pasta in lightly salted water, until al dente, and then drain (retaining half a cup of cooking water in case the sauce needs it). Toss the pasta directly into the frypan with the arrabbiata, and stir through crumbled basil leaves and sopressa before serving. That’s it!

Spinach and Paprika Funghini Arrabbiata | Funghini agli Spinaci e Paprica all'Arrabbiata - Pasta et Al (10)

Give it a go, and don’t be afraid to try out other flavouring and colouring ingredients in your pasta doughs. Buon appetito!

– Al & Al.

This two-tone pasta of spinach and paprika doughs, served with a smooth tomato and chilli sauce, is quick to make and packed full of flavour.

Equipment

Food processor
Air tight container for resting
See Also
Homemade Pappardelle Pasta with Meat Ragu | Tried and True Recipes
Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)
Frypan

Ingredients

Pasta

200 g 00 flour
100 g light rye flour
2 eggs
40 g chopped spinach
3 tsps paprika + 1 tbsp water
2 tsps olive oil extra virgin (we used Rio Vista Olives' Single Variety Koroneiki)

Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin (we used Rio Vista Olives' Single Variety Koroneiki)
handful basil leaves
4 slices extra hot sopressa
1 tbsp dried red chilli flakes
6 cloves garlic smashed
400 ml passata
pinch sugar
salt to season

Instructions

Place half of the 00 and light rye flours into a food processor, with 1 egg, the spinach, and 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil. Process until it comes together into a ball, 40-60 seconds. If it doesn't come together, add a small amount of water, 1 tsp at a time; if it's too sticky, add a small amount of flour.
Remove the dough from the food processor and knead vigorously for 7-10 minutes, before sealing in an airtight container and resting for 30 minutes, away from heat or direct sunlight.
Place the remaining pasta ingredients into the food processor, and repeat steps 1-2.
While the doughs rest, prepare the sauce. Heat 2 tbsp of extra virgin in a medium sized frypan, on medium-high heat, and then carefully fry the basil leaves; remove as soon as they turn a bright green, as little as 20 seconds. Transfer to drain on paper towels.
Similarly fry the sopressa in the same oil, until it begins to darken and most of the fat has rendered out, leaving it crispy. This may take up to 1 minute. Transfer to paper towels.
Lower the heat to medium, and fry the garlic for 2-3 minutes until it begins to brown. Add the chilli flakes, and then the passata. Sprinkle in a pinch of sugar and salt and then cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.
Once the dough has rested, cut each ball of dough into 2 even pieces, and then roll one at a time through the widest setting on the pasta machine a few times, folding the dough over itself in between passes.
Gradually step each sheet of pasta through the machine thicknesses to a medium-thin setting of 6, and then lay one sheet of each type on a sheet of the other. Run your hands gently over the sheets to remove air bubbles or wrinkles.
To laminate, open the machine back up by 2-3 thickness settings, and then pass the paired sheets through, stepping incrementally back up to a setting of 5.
Lay the sheets out flat on a lightly floured surface, and use a round cookie cutter to stamp out circular pieces of pasta. Try to keep as little distance between each cut as possible, to maximise the amount of pasta made from each sheet. Be sure to collect up and seal the offcuts as you go, as they can easily be recombined into a sheet or two themselves, and quickly turned into a bit of bonus pasta.
To form our little funghini, fold each circle in half and pinch lightly in the middle of the meeting edges. Then fold it in half again by bringing the outer corners together, and gently pinch the inner walls (not the corners) together to complete.
Transfer to lightly floured baking paper lined trays and refrigerate uncovered for up to one week.
To serve with our arrabbiata sauce, cook in boiling lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes or until just al dente (no white dough visible when pasta is cut into). Retain half a cup of cooking water before draining and tossing the pasta through the sauce in the frypan, crumbling in the sopressa and basil leaves as you go. If necessary for proper emulsification, add a little pasta water in as you stir.