Egg Yolk Pappardelle with Mushroom and Taleggio Sauce - Recipe by Alec Morris

Ingredients

1 quantity egg yolk dough
2 garlic bulbs
20g dried porcini, rehydrated in hot water (drain well and retain the water)
800g mixed fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
80mL extra-virgin olive oil
150g taleggio, cubed
100mL full-cream (whole) milk
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano to serve

Whole egg dough:

250g plain (all-purpose) flour
150g 00 flour
4 eggs
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

For a wholemeal variation, use 2 parts plain (all-purpose) flour, to 1 part wholemeal (whole-wheat)

Egg yolk dough:

360g 00 flour
100g durum semolina flour
18 egg yolks
2 Tbs water
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

No, that's not a mistake: eighteen egg yolks

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Form the dough into sheets of 0.5 mm–0.8 mm thickness and cut into pappardelle.

Roast the garlic bulbs whole in the oven for 20 minutes. They should brown slightly on the outside. Allow to cool.

Sauté the porcini and fresh mushrooms in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same pan, gently melt the taleggio into the milk over low heat. Once it has completely melted, add a few tablespoons of porcini water to taste.

Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the cloves and add to the milk and taleggio, along with the sautéed mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pappardelle for 2–3 minutes in a large pot of salted water, test for doneness and transfer directly from the pot into the pan, retaining a little pasta water.

Toss together thoroughly, adding a little pasta or porcini water if too dry.

Serve with Parmigiano Reggiano and cracked pepper.

Egg dough:

Almost every egg pasta in this book could be made with the old-fashioned recipe of 100g flour to one egg, per person. This is where they all began and it remains a perfectly viable option if you’re pressed for ingredients.

That said, the more you experiment and tinker, the more you’ll notice the difference that flour substitutions, egg ratios and even a little oil can make.

Note that if using these doughs for filled pasta, you can decrease the ingredients by around one-quarter if you want to.

We tend to knead up a full serve and then stuff pasta until we run out of filling, cutting any remaining dough into bonus unfilled shapes.

Credits: This is an edited extract from Pasta et Al by Alec Morris published by Hardie Grant Books.

Photo Credits: Pasta et Al by Alec Morris published by Hardie Grant Books