Green pasta

It is pasta dough coloured with spinach, usually spinach purée or powder. Green pasta may also contain egg, so the colour alone does not tell you what is in the dough.

Boil it in plenty of salted water. Dried green pasta usually takes about 8–10 minutes and fresh pasta about 2–4 minutes; taste a piece near the end so you can drain it while it still has a little bite.

Try pesto, a creamy mushroom sauce, or ricotta with a little lemon zest. These suit the gentle spinach flavour without overwhelming it.

Usually not: spinach gives it a mild, earthy flavour, rather than making it taste like a bowl of cooked spinach. The flavour is often more noticeable in a simple dish than under a strongly spiced sauce.

Yes. Use the same shape and cook it in the same way; its mild spinach flavour works in most pasta dishes, though it will give the meal a green colour.

Cool it promptly, put it in the fridge within two hours and eat it within two days. The Food Standards Agency advises reheating leftovers until steaming hot throughout, and reheating them only once.

No. Green describes its colour, not whether it contains egg; some green pasta is made with egg. If you need to avoid egg, check the ingredients and allergen information.