Tagliatelle with sea scent 

I have always cooked spaghetti or linguine with fish sauce, but today I also wanted to try with fresh tagliatelle and so I immediately kneaded and prepared them by hand. It is a dish that is a bit articulated in the preparation, making fresh pasta, preparing the fish base for the sauce, a few steps, but in the end the success of the dish is exceptional, the fish sauce binds well with the tagliatelle and here is a very good and tasty first course of tagliatelle with the scent of the sea. It is a recipe that is good for any season, but also excellent for Christmas parties, the intense scent of the sea will conquer your diners making a good impression!

Ingredients

450 grams of fresh tagliatelle

350 grams of clams

200 grams of leek

5 tablespoons of dry white wine 

1 pinch of saffron

Butter to taste

Parsley to taste

Procedure

This is a recipe that can be a pleasant variation on traditional fish dishes. First of all, let's start by cleaning the clams, removing any residue. In a large frying pan, melt the butter; When it becomes hot at the right point, brown the finely chopped leek, cleaned and coarsely chopped for about 3 minutes. Add the clams, which we leave to flavor for another 3 minutes, then sprinkle with saffron and cook for another minute. Pour in the white wine and bring it to a boil. Cover with a lid and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. In the meantime, boil the tagliatelle in plenty of salted water. We can easily buy ready-made ones, but if we have the time to make them at home, the result is much better. Drain them, put them back in the pot, pour over the sauce, stir gently, to evenly distribute the contents, finally serve, garnishing with chopped parsley. We accompany with a Fiano di Avellino. Enjoy your meal!

Those who have been following me for a long time know that I love so much genuine homemade things as well as fresh pasta, the recipe fresh egg pasta is a traditional pasta based on flour and eggs for different shapes of pasta such as: lasagna, tagliatelle, pappardelle, ravioli and many other types of simple and stuffed pasta. Egg pasta requires a bit of patience and dexterity, but once you get used to it, it will be easy to prepare and will repay you with its extraordinary aroma and flavor. The real Emilian dough was rolled out by hand with a rolling pin, a lot of strength and dexterity for a beautiful thin but rough and porous sheet, today instead advantaged by modern kneading machines to roll it out and cut it, everything becomes faster and easier. My recipe follows the traditional rule of an egg of about 60 gr. per 100 g. of flour, which leads to excellent results, but is not good for stuffed pasta, in which case a much smaller number of eggs are used and a little water is added. The quantities vary according to the moisture content of the flour and the size of the eggs. If the egg is smaller, remove a little flour or add a little water. Fresh spinach can also be added to this basic dough, just replace 1 egg, to obtain green dough. Here are some tips for a good fresh pasta knead by hand: Wet your hands often while kneading and keep the pastry board floured. Knead away from drafts that can cause the dough to dry out. The dough should be kneaded for at least 10 minutes, beating it occasionally on the pastry board to make it more elastic. Let the dough rest at least half an hour before making any shape, it is very important for the success of egg pasta because it allows the ingredients to mix in the best possible way. If you want to add a pinch of salt to the dough, I put very little, use very fine salt. Fresh pasta cooks in a few minutes, 5 to 6 minutes, depending on the thickness. To prevent it from sticking during cooking, add a few tablespoons of oil to the water. Fresh pasta can be kept in the fridge wrapped in a towel for a few days or frozen. For the dough I recommend the  Soft Wheat Flour for Fresh Pasta or the re-milled semolina, the choice of wheat that composes it is particularly suitable for the most varied types of fresh pasta: tagliatelle, cappelletti, tortelli, lasagna, gnocchi. The grain size of this flour is thicker and its stronger color distinguishes it, giving an inimitable finished product. If you prefer a thinner sheet, I recommend flour with a finer grain size.

 

Ingredients

500 gr. flour for pasta 

5 eggs

1 pinch of salt

Procedure

If you use a stand mixer or thermomix: Put the eggs in the container, turn on the machine, then add the salt and always slowly kneading the flour, until you get a good homogeneous dough.

For the dough by hand: pour the flour into a well on a pastry board or work table, break the whole eggs in the center, add salt and knead the ingredients well with your hands. Knead the dough with your hands to refine it a little, continue to knead it until it is smooth. Make a ball and let the dough rest covered with a cloth or cling film, after resting the dough is even smoother and you work better. Take the dough, roll it out with a rolling pin, flouring it from time to time so that it does not stick, knead it and roll it out evenly until you get a large sheet and the desired thickness. The dough is ready for the desired pasta shape, from here you can make large strips for lasagna, or for stuffed pasta to be stuffed as desired and make tortelli, ravioli, etc. For tagliatelle, tagliolini, pappardelle, roll the sheet on itself, flour it well and then cut it with a good knife, varying the centimeters required for the shape of pasta. Then roll them out on a floured surface to dry. 

Wine experts think this Southern Italy White wine would be a match made in heaven with this dish. Bon appétit!

Mastroberardino

Fiano Di Avellino Vignadora

Tasting note

Flinty mineral, smoke, yellow pear, toasted hazelnut and acacia aromas follow over to the elegant medium-bodied palate along with meyer lemon, mature yellow apple and saline. A note of chestnut honey wraps around the finish while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.