fresh tagliatelle with truffle butter

By stancec44

With this pasta, looks are deceiving. To the eyes, it's plain as can be, but its aroma tantalizes, and its flavor—the tagliolini is tossed with a butter sauce made with white truffle paste—amazes. One bite and you will swoon. Making fresh pasta is easier and quicker than you may think, and the results are well worth the extra effort. Tender and supple, this hand-cut tagliatelle readily absorbs the flavors of the sauce it's tossed with.

Ingredients

• For Pasta:
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• Coarse sea salt
• For Rest:
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallot
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon white truffle paste (see note)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup freshly grated Grana Padano cheese
• Flaky coarse sea salt

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

For Pasta:

On a clean work surface, mound flour and form a well in the center. Add eggs and egg yolks to the well. Using a fork, gently break up yolks and slowly incorporate flour from inside rim of well. Continue until liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 3 pieces. Cover 2 pieces with plastic wrap. Flatten remaining dough piece so that it will fit through the rollers of a pasta machine.

Set rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting, then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times, folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll pasta through machine, decreasing the setting, one notch at a time (do not fold or turn pasta), until pasta sheet is scant 1/16 inch thick.

Cut sheet in half widthwise; dust both sides of sheets with flour. Layer sheets between floured pieces of parchment or wax paper. Cover with paper and repeat with remaining dough.

With the short end of 1 pasta sheet facing you, loosely fold up sheet, folding sheet over two or three times from short ends toward the center. With a large chefs knife, cut folded sheet into ribbons, a scant 1/4 inch wide. Unroll strips and lightly dust with flour; spread on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pasta sheets.

(See below before you cook, as I am substituting tagliatelle for another type of pasta in this recipe.) To cook the tagliatelle, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with sauce.

For Sauce:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, combine wine and shallot; heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until wine has reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes. Add butter and truffle paste; continue to cook, stirring, until butter has melted. Add 1/4 cup water and stir to combine, then remove pan from heat. Add cheese and stir to combine. Set sauce aside.

Reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid, drain pasta and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add sauce and 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid; toss to combine well, then let sit 1 to 2 minutes. Add more pasta cooking liquid to moisten, if necessary. Season with crushed coarse flaky sea salt to taste. Serve immediately.

NOTE: White truffle paste can be purchased at specialty food stores or ordered online at buonitalia.com; [phone].