Fresh All-Egg-Yolk Pasta

This recipe comes from Jeffrey Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything (pg 264 in the paperback edition).  It is by far the best fresh pasta recipe I have ever used.  It produces a light, eggy, and tender noodle that is out of this world.  Technically, this style of pasta is called Tajarin and comes from the Piedmont area of Italy.  And, according to Steingarten, this style of pasta is to be cut 1/8″ inch wide so as to make tagliarini noodles.  My take, however, is that these noodles are so delicious that I’m just going to use them for everything.  And my first use was for a homemade lasagna.  Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Fresh All-Egg-Yolk Pasta

1 lb unbleached all-purpose flour

about 1/2 T salt

20 yolks from extra-large eggs

Put all but 1 cup of the flour on the counter, sprinkle with the salt, make a depression in the center, and pour in the egg yolks.  Essentially, you’re making a bowl out of the flour.  Stir the yolks with a fork, gradually incorporating all the flour that surrounds them, until you have a sticky mass of dough.  With the reserved cup of flour, heavily flour your hands and work surface, and knead the dough, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, soft ball that no longer sticks to your fingers.  (This will take some work.)  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it relax for 30 minutes. 

Divide the dough into six roughly equal pieces and roll each one eight or nine times through a pasta machine with the rollers at the widest setting, folding the dough like a letter and turning it after each pass.  Thin each piece of dough at increasingly narrow settings until you reach the desired thickness.  Place the sheets on a very lightly floured surface, dust with a little flour, and let them dry until their surface begins to resemble leather but before they become brittle.  Turn them over to dry the other side.  Total drying time will be 15 to 30 minutes.  At this point, cut the noodles into the shape you want and then let them dry a little more; at least until you can be sure they won’t stick together. 

A couple of pictures.  First, here’s my pasta drying:

And next is some pappardelle style noodles:

Do yourself a favor and try this one at home.  It could be a life changing experience.  I know it’s already changed mine.