Chlorophyll Extraction for Green Pasta and Sauces (2004)

I did this back in September 2004 but wanted to document it here, it worked really well. The different greens had different extraction rates and flavors: basil tasted the best but was most expensive, chard was cheap and easy to extract. See another recipe here for using the chlorophyll to make green pasta which retains its flavor when cooked.

This extraction technique is from Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook. Keller uses two parts spinach and one part each parsley and watercress and uses it in herb sauces and cream sauces.

Note: this takes two days to make.

Below are various yields for different Greens, deveined or destemmed.

Weights are after washing, still a bit dripping wet.

The Chard had the best yield and was easiest to extract.

The Basil chlorophyll had a surprising pepper taste, with some anise.

Greens      Source  Pulp   Chloro   Notes

Swiss Chard 12 oz   2 C    5oz/9Tb  Good separation, fast filtering

Sorrel      1 Lb   2 C    1oz/3Tb  Fine grain difficult to tell separation;

                                    filtering is very slow

Basil      6 oz   5 floz 1oz/3Tb  Brown run-off water

Grind greens in a meat grinder (Kitchenaid mixer attachment with fine cutter).

Add at least four times as much water as ground greens by volume.

Let soak in refrigerator overnight.

Strain through medium mesh sieve, squeezing out as much liquid as possible,

allowing chlorophyll-laden water to pass through into pan (a shiny rather than dark pan is easier to see).

Bring to simmer, stirring constantly; watch for chlorophyll to precipitate out of solution.

When fully separated, shock by adding just enough ice to cool it down, but not so many there are floating ice cubes in the pan.

Strain through coffee filter set inside a colander; this may take overnight, so you can set it up in the fridge.

What's left on the filter is pure chlorophyll which can be scraped off and saved tightly covered in the freezer.

For Pasta, we use 3 Tbs chlorophyll to 2 C fine durum Flour, 3 Eggs, 1 Tbs milk.

Next time... In 2023, I no longer have a meat grinder; would whizzing the greens with some of the water in a food processor or blender work? I expect it would have the same effect of breaking the leaves to open up the cells.