If making this spinach dough recipe in a food processor, what quantity of flour would you recommend to place in the food processor to begin with?

Thanks!

Start with about 2 cups - you can always adjust. I'd recommend you watch the lesson on How to Make Fresh Pasta (specifically Topic 4, which covers making pasta in a food processor). Happy cooking!

I watched the episode which looked fabulously easy! My first attempt failed and I reverted to the "hands on" approach which was super albeit time consuming. (My first attempt used eggs directly from the fridge but I think I should have allowed them to temper prior to adding to the flour in the food processor....)

If I don't use all the dough, how long will it keep?

Fresh pasta won't store well for more than 3 days, it will start to ferment. It can be frozen, but this can also develop off flavors from the freezer and cause clumping. Drying fresh pasta really defeats the purpose of making it fresh. It does not cook to the same texture. It's okay to dry it, but I think it's not worth more than commercially dried pasta unless you are making it with special flours and/or flavors. Fresh pasta is one of those things you make when you want a special plate of fresh pasta.

Do I have to boil the lasagna noodles befoe assembling the lasagna?

Yes the lasagna noodles should be boiled for the lasagne. Here is the link to the full recipe for Mario's Lasagne. Also, here is a great discussion called "To Boil or Not to Boil" Give it a read if you like. Cheers!

I have made fresh pasta a couple of times with great result. This time I wanted to color the pasta as was done in this video. I made the dough and put in in the fridge to rest over night. The day after when I was about to use it, it looked good but was impossible handle. Even with the widest setting on the pasta machine the dough didn't stick together. It fell a part into crumbs. I then thought I might need to "warm up" the dough before running it through the pasta machine so I started to knead again, a few times, but I didn't help a bit.

Is there a good explanation as for why this happened?

Thanks!

It is hard to say exactly what might have gone wrong for you. It sounds like perhaps your pasta was just too dry. Meaning that you added too much flour. Also, fresh pasta is often made and rolled out the same day. I would suggest that you try it again, as this pasta is really delicious. Maybe just watch the video again and also be sure to watch the lesson on "How to Make Laminated Pasta" as this will show you what to look for etc. Good luck Carl. Cheers!

Okey, thanks Dawn! I tried again today, but without coloring with spinach and it went well. Is it possible to over-knead the dough? Will amount of kneeding affect the texture on the cooked pasta. Today it became very al dente even after cooking for over four minutes.

Thanks!

It is really hard to over-knead, especially by hand. Yes, kneading can affect the texture of the dough, but this is generally because one has not kneaded enough.

Not sure why the dough would have become al dente after it had been cooked? Perhaps the dough was again, just a bit too dry to begin with?

You might want to try the practice recipe "basic pasta dough" from the "How to Make Laminated Pasta". And if you have not already, be sure to watch the lesson as this might provide you with a bit more guidance as to what might be going wrong. Good for you for trying again Carl. Keep up the good work and practice and you will get it. Cheers!