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The Story
When we first decided to turn our little pasta tradition into a blog, posting a different pasta each week or so, I thought it would be a good idea to list out every type of pasta I could think of and make sure that we had enough weeks in us. As I approached 100 I decided we’d be fine. Then when, with a little additional research, I discovered that there are actually an estimated 350 varieties out there, not including all regional adaptations, creative interpretations, or dough and filling substitutions, I had a little panic. Even if you allow only 3 variations per pasta, Pasta et Al has at least 20 years’ worth of pasta to guide you through. At that point I did some wordless muttering and walked away from my notes in a bit of a daze.
Then I made pappardelle. If there’s one pasta that never fails to hit the spot, as a solid bitey mouthful undoubtedly bearing a hearty sugo, it’s pappardelle. Despite the endless types of pasta out there, once I develop a craving for this guy, nothing can throw me off the scent. And as a handcut pasta that can be made with or without eggs, using little more than a rolling implement and a knife, this should be one of your unshakeable go-tos. I’ve made it before with a plastic water bottle and a pocket-knife. I have no time for your excuses.
It’s not just me either. There’s a lot in a pasta name: tagliatelle from ‘to cut’, paccheri from ‘to slap’, strozzapreti (love this one) ‘choking priest’, linguine ‘little tongues’, orecchiette ‘little ears’. Pappardelle is from the Latin ‘to gobble up with delight’. Because for as long as there’s been pasta, pappardelle has held this allure of gastronomic fulfilment. Due to its width and durability, you can do all sorts of creative things with it: mix in herbs and spice, laminate ingredients, colour it, emboss it. Sometimes though the best way to celebrate such a triumph of design is to keep it simple. With a dash of decadence thrown in. This is our egg yolk pappardelle.
The Pasta
You’re going to need a lot of eggs. More specifically, a lot of egg yolks. If you love omelettes or macarons then you’re in luck, because a two person serve of this little indulgence will set you back 9 eggs and leave you as many whites. I’ve mentioned before that I separate my yolks by passing them back and forth between the cracked shell halves; if you do this over a bowl then you can just let the whites fall through and then package them up for refrigeration or freezing. If you are drawn to the macaron challenge, make sure that you don’t let any cheeky yolk slip in. I may have picked up a thing or two about baked goods over the years, and I can tell you that with yolks in your meringue egg whites, you’re going to have a bad time.
Now get your flour well on. This time around you’re going to need more of a city ramparts than a well to contain all those yolks. I’m not going to lie, I regularly make a proper mess at this mixing stage, and so I keep a scraper handy to regather it all as I go. Once you’ve formed it into a rough ball, start your 10 minutes of vigorous kneading.
Remember that you don’t want it sticking to your hands or the kneading surface, and you should be able to gauge this within a few minutes of beginning work on the dough. Just add flour a little bit at a time if it’s too sticky and be careful not to go overboard (it’s harder going back the other way to incorporate extra moisture). I always find that the dough noticeably ‘turns’ at around 6-7 minutes. By 10, you should have a beautiful shiny, smooth dough. Place it in an airtight container and leave it to rest away from direct sunlight or heat for 30 minutes.
For ease of dough management, cut it into 4 pieces, leaving those that you’re not working on sealed up. I use a pasta machine to incrementally roll my pappardelle through to a setting of 5. You may want to go thinner, but remember that this is a pasta well suited to a bit of thickness. If you’re just using a rolling pin, aim for a final thickness of somewhere between 1.5 and 2mm. Remember that if you’re using a machine you should always pass the dough through on the widest setting a few times (folding over itself in between) before you start stepping through the settings. This effectively extends the knead time and helps develop those gluten bonds; working with a pin, a quick knead before rolling will have a similar effect.
We cut our pappardelle to around 30cm in length, with a width of about an inch. On an average sheet of machined dough (about 140mm wide) that should get you 5 lengths of pasta. That said, I sometimes like to go extra-wide and cut only four per sheet. You can either use a cutting roller for this or lightly flour each sheet, fold it gently over itself, and cut across it with a knife. Then unfold each piece, and hang it to dry on a rack (alternatively, transfer it to a baking paper lined tray). If you’re cutting with a knife, try to stay as straight as possible; there’s nothing wrong with zigzagging pasta, but it might not be what you’re after.
Store this pasta uncovered in the fridge for at least half an hour to gain a bit of bite. It will keep refrigerated for up to a week. Cook it in plenty of water, always to al dente, and until there’s no white left in the dough when you bite it!
That’s it! Short and sweet. If you’re looking for the perfect sauce to accompany this glorious, rich celebration of a pasta, we’ve got the recipe for you: be sure to check out our mushroom and taleggio sauce. They were made to go together.
As always, make it with care and love. And buon appetito!
– Al & Al.
Equipment
- Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)
- Air tight container for resting
- Pastry/pasta cutting wheel
Ingredients
- 180 g 00 flour
- 50 g fine durum semolina
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 9 egg yolks
- 45 ml water
Instructions
- Mix the flours together and form them into a well on a large flat surface, or in a bowl with enough room to knead in.
- Prepare your eggs yolks. The easiest way that I've found to separate them is to crack each egg in half and then pass the yolk back and forwards between the halves, allowing the white to fall away. Remember that those egg whites will store well (and can be frozen), so you can always keep them for future use. Add the yolks to the centre of the well, with the olive oil.
- Use a fork or your hand to gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet, in the centre of the well. You want to form a ball of dough that’s elastic, but doesn’t stick to your hands or work surface. If it’s too sticky, add flour in very small amounts (no more than a tablespoon at a time).
- Once the dough can be handled without sticking to anything, knead vigourously for 10 minutes. Put your weight down and forwards into the dough using the heel of your hand, and fold it forwards over itself as you go. The motion is down, forwards, and then up at the end of the push.
- After 10 minutes, if you’ve balanced your moisture correctly you should be left with a smooth, shiny ball of dough that requires no additional flour.
- Store it in a freezer bag or similar to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, keeping it out of direct sunlight or heat to avoid it sweating.
- Cut the dough into four pieces, and roll it out. For pappardelle, I like to go thicker; if using a machine, I roll to 5. Remember on a machine to pass it through at the lowest setting a few times first, folding it over itself in between passes. Then step up incrementally to your desired thickness. I aim for sheets of around 30cm in length. If you're using a rolling pin, you can cut to whatever width you like, or use the machine width of 14cm as a guide.
- Use a knife or cutting roller to cut the sheets into wide strips, of around two fingers width. If you find it easier, you can flour the sheets well and then roll them loosely over themselves before cutting; this makes for less distance that your knife has to travel. Just make sure that you unroll after cutting each sheet.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to a week, uncovered. This will help it dry out and enhance the bite when eating.
- To cook, boil in plenty of water, and bite or cut across the pasta to check that it's cooked. No sign of floury white (but only just) is what you want. If you're after the ideal, creamy, pairing for this pasta, try our mushroom and taleggio sauce!
Not seeing when/where the 45gs of water goes into with the 9 yolk pasta recipe!