Tajarin

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large wooden board or clean work surface (at least 24 inches)
• •Bench scraper
• •Hand-crank pasta machine (Atlas or similar)
• •Sharp chef's knife for cutting
• •Pasta drying rack or clean kitchen towels

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the flour well

   Mound the flour on a large wooden board or clean work surface. Create a wide well in the center, pushing the flour outward to form walls at least three inches high. The well must be large enough to contain all the yolks without breaching. If your walls are too thin, the yolks will escape and run across your counter. You will curse and start over.

2. 2

   Add the eggs

   Crack the egg yolks and the whole egg into the center of the well. Add the salt. Using a fork, begin beating the eggs gently, keeping the motion small and circular. Gradually draw flour from the inner walls into the eggs, incorporating a little at a time. Work slowly. The mixture will thicken into a rough, shaggy paste.

   Ten yolks seems excessive until you taste the result. The yolks give tajarin its extraordinary color, richness, and ability to hold butter. This is not the place for restraint.
3. 3

   Form the dough

   When the mixture becomes too stiff to work with a fork, set the fork aside. Use a bench scraper to fold the remaining flour over the wet mass and begin pressing everything together with your hands. The dough will be rough and uneven. This is correct. Scrape the board clean of dried bits and set them aside. You want only the workable dough.

4. 4

   Knead thoroughly

   Push the dough away from you with the heel of your hand, fold it back over itself, rotate it a quarter turn, and repeat. Continue for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will transform from rough and sticky to smooth and supple. It should feel like your earlobe when pressed: soft but with resistance. If it remains sticky after five minutes, dust your hands with flour, not the dough.

   The high yolk content makes this dough more forgiving than leaner pasta doughs. It will come together. Do not add flour unless absolutely necessary. Extra flour makes the pasta tough.
5. 5

   Test the dough

   Press your thumb into the dough. It should spring back slowly. Pull a small piece and stretch it gently between your fingers. Properly kneaded dough stretches thin enough to see light through it without tearing immediately. This is the windowpane test. If it tears, knead for another two minutes and test again.

6. 6

   Rest the dough

   Wrap the dough tightly in plastic film and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Do not skip this step. Resting relaxes the gluten and makes rolling dramatically easier. The dough will roll out smoothly instead of springing back at you. Patience now saves frustration later.

7. 7

   Prepare for rolling

   Set up your pasta machine clamped firmly to the counter. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Cut the rested dough into four equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the others wrapped to prevent drying.

8. 8

   Roll the pasta

   Flatten one piece of dough into a rough rectangle with your hands. Pass it through the machine at the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter, turn it 90 degrees, and pass it through again. Repeat this folding and rolling three times at the widest setting. This develops the gluten structure and creates a smooth sheet.

   A hand-crank pasta machine transforms this from an expert skill into a learnable one. Do not apologize for using a machine. The sfogline of Bologna roll by hand because they have done so since childhood. You have not. The machine gives excellent results.
9. 9

   Thin the sheet

   Now begin thinning the pasta. Pass the sheet through progressively narrower settings, one step at a time, without folding. For tajarin, roll to the second-thinnest setting on your machine (usually setting 6 or 7 on an Atlas machine). The sheet should be thin enough to see your hand through it, almost translucent. If it tears, the dough is too dry or you skipped a setting. Start again with a new piece.

10. 10

    Dry the sheets briefly

    Lay each finished sheet on a lightly floured surface or hang it over a pasta drying rack. Let the sheets dry for 5 to 10 minutes until they feel leathery but still pliable, no longer tacky to the touch. If they remain too moist, they will stick together when cut. If they dry too long, they will crack.

11. 11

    Cut the tajarin

    Dust each sheet lightly with semolina flour. Roll it loosely from one short end to the other, creating a flat cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut across the roll into strips no wider than 2 millimeters. Tajarin is thinner than tagliatelle. Unravel each nest immediately after cutting, tossing with a little semolina to prevent sticking.

    The width matters. True tajarin is gossamer thin, almost like angel hair but flat. If your strips are as wide as fettuccine, you have made tagliatelle. Start again and cut narrower.
12. 12

    Form nests for storage or cook immediately

    Gather small portions of the cut pasta and twirl them into loose nests. Dust generously with semolina. Fresh tajarin can be cooked immediately or dried at room temperature for up to 24 hours. To cook, drop into abundant boiling salted water. Fresh tajarin cooks in 2 to 3 minutes. It is done when it floats and tastes tender with a whisper of resistance.

Chef Tips

• •Weigh your yolks. Egg sizes vary considerably. You want approximately 200 grams of yolk for this recipe. If your yolks are small, add another. The dough shouldbe rich and supple, not dry.
• •The dough freezes well. Shape it into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic, then foil. It keeps for one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.
• •Cut tajarin can be frozen on a sheet pan until firm, then transferred to bags. It cooks from frozen in about 3 minutes. Do not thaw before cooking or it will stick to itself.
• •In Piedmont, tajarin is served with butter and white truffle, with a simple meat ragù, or with butter and sage. Never with tomato sauce. The delicate pasta would be overwhelmed.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made one day ahead, wrapped tightly, and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling.
• •Cut tajarin, dusted with semolina and formed into nests, dries well at room temperature for up to 24 hours. It becomes more delicate as it dries.
• •Frozen tajarin keeps for two months. Cook directly from frozen, adding one minute to the cooking time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)