fresh tagliatelle with nettles

tagliatelle con le ortiche

for 6

nettle pasta

at least 2 kg young nettle leaves

Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

350 g fine semolina flour

300 g Tipo ‘00’ pasta flour, plus 100 g for dusting

3 large, organic free-range eggs

10 large, organic free-range egg yolks

to serve

150 g unsalted butter, softened

freshly grated Parmesan

Wash the nettle leaves carefully in cold water. Blanch them in boiling salted water until soft and beginning to break up, about 1 minute. Drain gently, squeezing out the excess liquid. Shape some into 3–4 balls, roughly the same size as an egg. Put the rest of the nettles to one side. Allow to cool.

Sieve the flours into the bowl of a food processor and add the eggs, egg yolks and the 3–4 nettle balls. Using a dough hook, knead slowly, allowing the mixture to come together until the dough is consistently bright green and smooth. If it is too sticky, add a little extra pasta flour. Dust the work surface with the dusting flour, halve the dough, and knead each half by hand for 3–4 minutes, until completely pliable and smooth. Wrap each ball in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour.

Roll the pasta in the machine as described here, then cut into tagliatelle. Cook the tagliatelle in a generous amount of boiling salted water for 1 minute, then add the remaining nettle leaves, which will take less than a minute to become tender. Test the tagliatelle and nettles, then drain, keeping 3–4 tablespoons of the pasta water. Put the retained water into a warm pasta bowl, add the softened butter, some salt and pepper, and then add the cooked nettles and tagliatelle. Toss gently and serve immediately, making sure that each portion is quite wet with an equal amount of nettle leaves. Serve in bowls with Parmesan.