Fresh Spinach Arugula Pasta with Tomato Bacon Ragu

In case you didn’t know (although I’m sure you did), my family on my dad’s side is Italian. And being Italian, not only do we love all food, but we particularly love all those classic Italian comfort foods. Just take a look at the rest of my blog posts; you’ll see A LOT of pizza and A LOT of pasta. And not only that, but we love making these recipes completely from scratch, and with our own twist on them (check out my dad’s chickpea pasta recipe!). This is my brother Ben’s twist on fresh pasta – spinach arugula pasta – made with bright spinach and peppery arugula folded right into the dough, and served with and sweet and smokey bacon and tomato purée.

Ben considers himself to be not only a lover of food, but also a lover of cooking great food for his friends and family to enjoy. And I’m not disagreeing with this sentiment at all; in fact, it’s completely spot on. But for someone who loves food as much as he does, he’s always had what I’m going to call a slight aversion to certain foods. He wants to kill me every time I tell him that there’s too many foods that he doesn’t like (in my defense, he didn’t like them for many years of his life) because it’s not that he doesn’t like them per say, but because he only likes them when they’re cooked really well with lots of other tasty foods to surround them. Greens of any kind have always been one of these foods. He loves spinach when it’s cooked with lots of garlic and smothered in Parmesan cheese (then again who wouldn’t) and he loves arugula in a salad when it’s covered in lots of thick, sweet, balsamic vinegar and croutons (and probably more Parmesan cheese). This fresh spinach arugula pasta was Ben’s answer to incorporating vegetables into his diet.

This spinach arugula pasta is just as simple (or as complicated) as any other pasta recipe, only with the addition of puréed spinach and arugula. On second thought, I take that back. This pasta recipe is actually more simple than any other because Ben uses the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment and mix the dough instead of using the classic eggs in a well of flour method of making pasta by hand (which can also be used). You still need to have a pasta roller and cutter (either the manual kind, or the attachment for the stand mixer which makes things way easier) to roll out those nice thin sheets of dough needed. But other than that, making this fresh pasta is actually deceptively simple, and while it is still pasta, you can feel a little bit better about eating it because it also packs lots of veggies in as well!

Ok, now on to the tomato bacon ragu, Ben’s other Saturday afternoon brain child. While I wasn’t there with him on his trip to the grocery store, I have a feeling he walked around and picked up whatever ingredients seemed to speak to him that day (a technique learned from our dad). Somehow he came home with fresh tomatoes and basil, onion and lots of garlic, and bacon. Honestly the bacon is the best, and it works especially well in this recipe as a smokey balance for the sweet tomatoes, and as an extra boost of salt that tomatoes absolutely need. Fresh basil brings a beautiful brightness to the sauce, and a topping of toasted pistachios adds a crunch and burst of nuttiness.

Serve this ragu over Ben’s fresh spinach arugula pasta, or honestly over any cooked pasta, and I’m positive you will not be disappointed. I have to say that for Ben’s slightly impromptu Saturday night dinner, this meal came together incredibly well. And it may have taken a good chunk of his Saturday afternoon to make the fresh pasta, but I’d say it was absolutely worth it.