Saffron tagliatelle with spiced butter
This is a delectable meal good for when you want to impress someone. It really doesn’t take that long if your dough is nice and stretchy, and there’s nothing like the wholesome deliciousness of homemade pasta!
Serves 4 with leftovers.
Pasta
Note: I use semolina flour for the OO pasta flour. I have found that this produces quite a dry dough. A wet dough is much stretchier and easier to work with; if you find that the dough is tearing as you put it through the pasta machine, feel free to work in an extra egg or some oil as you go. You can do the pasta ahead of time and store it, dried, until you want to serve.
- 2 tsp saffron threads (this is a lot of saffron. I usually do less than this, depending how rich I am feeling)
- 4 Tbsp boiling water
- 4 eggs
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 440 g. OO pasta flour, plus extra for rolling (~ 3 1/2 c. semolina)
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
Place the saffron in a small bowl with the boiling water and leave to infuse for at least 10 minutes. Then add the eggs and oil and beat to mix. Place the flour and turmeric in the bowl of a food processor and add the saffron mix. Blend until the crumbly dough is formed. You may need a little more oil or flour to adjust the dough to the required consistency – neither sticky nor very dry.
Lightly dust your surface with flour, tip out the dough and knead into a ball. Work for a few minutes, adding more flour if you need, until it becomes silky soft. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, or up to to a day.
Divide the dough into two pieces. Keep one well covered. Using a rolling pin, flatten the other piece into a thin rectangle. Set the pasta machine to its widest setting and pass the dough through. Continue rolling the pasta, narrowing the setting by a notch every time, until you get to the lowest setting.
Fold up the pasta sheet twice along its length, sprinkling some flour between the layers. Use a large knife to cut long strips that are 3/4 inch wide. Hang them on the back of a chair to dry for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough. (Or, skip this step and put it through the tagliatelle attachment on the pasta maker).
Spiced butter
- 200 g. butter (~ 0.9 c)
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- black pepper
Topping:
- 80 g pine nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- 4 Tbsp roughly chopped mint
- 4 Tbsp roughly chopped parsley
Place the butter and oil in a frying pan and cook the shallots gently for about 10 minutes, or until they soften and the butter turns slightly brown. Now add all the spices, the salt and some pepper. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Cook the tagliatelle in a large pan of boiling salted water for 2 to 3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and return to the saucepan. Pour the spiced butter over the pasta and stir well. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and chopped herbs and serve.