Fresh Taglierini Pasta Recipes

TAGLIERINI WITH MORELS, ASPARAGUS, AND NASTURTIUMS

Steps:

• Prepare fresh pasta if using.
• Soak dried morels in 1 cup warm water 20 minutes. Agitate morels to dislodge grit, then remove from water, squeezing liquid from mushrooms back into bowl. Reserve liquid. When grit has settled, carefully pour mushroom liquid into a small bowl, leaving sediment behind (if necessary, strain liquid through a dampened coffee filter or cheesecloth). Remove any tough stems from morels.
• Trim and discard tough ends from asparagus. Cut off top 2 inches of tips and halve tips lengthwise. Cut remaining asparagus into long diagonal slices about 1/4 inch thick.
• Simmer wine, lemon juice, and shallots in a large heavy skillet until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add cream and simmer 1 minute. Add morels, mushroom soaking liquid, and broth, then simmer 5 minutes. Add butter all at once and cook sauce over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, just until creamy and butter is incorporated. (Do not let sauce get so hot that butter separates and sauce loses creamy consistency.) Remove skillet from heat and season sauce with salt and pepper. Keep warm, covered.
• If using fresh taglierini, shake off excess flour. Cook fresh taglierini with asparagus in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until pasta is al dente, about 1 minute. (For dried pasta, follow package instructions and add asparagus during last minute of cooking.) Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water and drain pasta and asparagus in a colander.
• Toss pasta and asparagus in a large bowl with ‚ cup sauce (without morels), one third of nasturtiums, and enough reserved pasta water to keep moist. Stir remaining nasturtiums into sauce.
• To serve, wind each portion of taglierini around a carving fork and transfer to center of a soup plate. Surround with asparagus, morels, and sauce.

FRESH TAGLIERINI

Steps:

• Attach ribbon-pasta cutters to pasta machine and attach handle to thinnest cutter. Line a tray with a dry kitchen towel. Feed first rolled out pasta sheet, which will have dried out slightly but will still be soft, through cutter and toss generously with flour. Form pasta loosely into nest and arrange on kitchen-towel-lined tray. Make more taglierini with remaining dough in same manner. Taglierini may be made 1 day ahead and chilled on towel-lined tray, covered loosely with plastic wrap.

TAGLIERINI WITH CARAMELIZED SCALLOPS AND ROSEMARY BEURRE BLANC

Steps:

• In an 8-quart kettle bring 7 quarts of salted water to a boil for pasta. Remove tough muscle from side of each scallop if necessary.
• Make beurre blanc:
• In a small heavy saucepan simmer wine, vinegar, shallot, garlic, and rosemary until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add cream and simmer until liquid is reduced by about half. Add butter all at once and cook over moderately low heat, swirling pan constantly, just until creamy and butter is incorporated. (Sauce must not get hot enough to liquify. It should be the consistency of hollandaise.) Remove pan from heat and stir in lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
• Pat scallops dry and season with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Arrange half of scallops, without crowding, in skillet and cook, undisturbed, 1 to 2 minutes, or until undersides are golden brown. Turn scallops over and cook, undisturbed, 1 to 2 minutes, or until undersides are golden brown. Transfer scallops to a bowl and keep warm. Cook remaining scallops in remaining oil in the same manner.
• Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente (about 30 seconds for fresh, longer for dried) and drain in a colander. Transfer pasta to a heated bowl and pour sauce through a fine sieve onto pasta. Add any liquid accumulated in bowl of scallops and toss.
• Divide pasta among 6 heated plates. Arrange scallops on top of pasta and garnish with herbs.