# Dehydrated Spinach



## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

I have a lot of spinach from the garden that will be ready any day now. Something I've never tried and was wondering about was dehydrating some of the spinach for soups. 

I don't want to waste what I have if turns out yucky, but if others have had good success in taste and texture, I'll give it a go. I'm trying to get away from freezer as much as possible this year due to the long power outages we have here.


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## Honey Berry (Oct 22, 2005)

I have dehydrated spinach in my Excalibur, then kept it in quart jars. I like to crumble it into spaghetti sauce and lasagna, soups and any other foods where I can sneak it in and my family won't notice. I think it turns out great to use it in this way.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

I dehydrate it then crush and just start cramming it into pint jars. Takes ALOT of spinach to fill a pint jar. I sneak spinach into EVERYTHING as I don't like it but understand that it's good for me. 

Goes really good in chocolate recipes if powdered you won't taste or see it.


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## Charly (Feb 20, 2010)

I've just dehydrated a bunch of it too. Some time ago I did a search for some recipes using dehydrated spinach. I was hoping to find a recipe for making green pasta noodles from spinach. Below I have copied and pasted some of the recipes I thought I might like to try. Let me know if anybody tries them or if you have a pasta noodle recipe. 

The notes I had were that you can crush the dehydrated spinach into a sort of flour and store in a cool dark jar. 

Here are some recipes for using dried spinach.
Pasta Recipe - makes approximately 1 pound
2 3/4 cups semolina or unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, extra large
1 tablespoon olive oil
In a bowl mix together the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs. Gently blend with a fork or your fingers, drawing the flour from the sides toward the center. Add the olive oil and mix until dough cleans the sides of the bowl. (IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE SPINACH PASTA FROM THE DRIED SPINACH FLOUR NOW IS THE TIME TO ADD 2 OR 3 TABLESPOONS).
Place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough 5 minutes until it is smooth and does not stick to your hands. It should be one color. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces with a pasta scraper and let it rest for 5 minutes covered with a piece of plastic wrap. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, kneading gently and flatten with the heel of your hand. Feed the flattened dough through the rollers of a pasta machine, gradually decreasing the space between the rollers by adjusting the notches. I start at 1 and finish at 5 or 6. Roll to desired thickness.
Insert cutting roller heads into the machine and cut the pasta, being careful not to feed it through the cutters at an angle. It is easier to feed the dough through the cutter if the ends are squared off. Dry the pasta until it is dry but not brittle. For longer keeping twice the moist strands into loose loops to dry. They will keep this way a few days in the refrigerator or up to a few months in the freezer. Cook the pasta until it is al dente or tooth tender in 7 quarts of rapidly boiling water to which 2 Tablespoons of salt have been added. Stir with a wooden fork to separate the strands. Test every 2 to 3 minutes for doneness since fresh pasta cooks faster than boxed. Drain pasta in a colander or lift it from the pot with a fork, shaking off the excess water.
================================================= Creamy Spinach Soup Make a thin white sauce and add 3-4 tablespoons of spinach flour and stir Stir well, then let set 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes reheat and eat OR 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (can be purchased whole at herb shop or any good grocery store) 2 chicken bouillon cubes 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cups half and half 1/4 cup dried powdered spinach Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion powder, nutmeg and bouillon cubes. Crush and dissolve bouillon cubes adding a little milk if necessary. Add remaining milk and half and half. Heat to 185 degrees (just below boiling). Place spinach power in bowl or blender. Pour hot milk mixture over spinach. Blend well. Serve at once. Yield: 3 small cups of soup as an appetizer or 1 large bowl (2 cups) as a main entree.
=============================================== Spinach Squares 4 tbsp. butter 3 eggs 1 c. flour 1 1/2 cups milk 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder 1 lb. grated cheddar 1/4 cup spinach flour 1 tbsp. chopped onion Seasoned salt (opt.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 9 x 13 inch baking dish in oven. Remove dish. Beat eggs then add flour, milk, salt and baking powder. Mix well. Add cheese, spinach flour, onion and mix well. Spoon into dish and level off. Sprinkle with seasoned salt if desired. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into squares.
================================================ Spinach Feta Bread
3/4 cup spinach flour -- 2-1/4 teaspoons yeast -- 3 cups bread flour -- 1/3 cup wheat bran -- 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar -- 1/2 tablespoon salt -- 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg -- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper -- 3 tablespoons oil -- 2 eggs -- 1/3 cup feta cheese -- 1/2 cup water Bring all ingredients to room temperature and add to machine. Select white bread cycle.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I gotta do that! At the moment we have so many different wild greens that I didn't even plant spinach; and certainly not buying it. But now I'm wondering about dehydrating these wild greens like you are spinach. hmmmmmm...turning it into "flour"......


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