Making your own tagliere and mattarello requires little more than a trip to your local hardware store and some elbow grease. Even if you do have ready access to store-bought versions, there’s surely an extra level of satisfaction making pasta with tools you’ve also created yourself.
TO MAKE A TAGLIERE
Start by measuring your largest kitchen counter area. To accommodate my recipes, the board needs to be at least 24 in [61 cm] deep and 32 in [81 cm] long. This is a good size in general, too. (Even though the dough is rolled out into a circle, tagliere aren’t square because you need a little extra horizontal space to turn the rolled out pasta into shapes.) If your counter is smaller than that, plan to use the board on a sturdy desk or table.
Bring these measurements to your hardware store and have them cut a 1/2 to 3/4 in [12 mm to 2 cm] thick untreated, unpressurized wooden board to your specified dimensions. If possible, get Baltic birch plywood because the wood is smooth and compact; pine and maple will work, too. At home, sand the entire board with extra-fine 180-grit sandpaper until very smooth. Finish sanding with 320-grit sandpaper. Remove any dust with a brush or dry cloth. Never wash your tagliere.
TO MAKE A MATTARELLO
This is even easier because this is really just a long stick. (These days mattarelli are cylindrical; that was hardly a given before the advent of perfectly calibrated rolling pins around 50 years ago.) Buy an untreated, unpressurized solid wooden dowel from the hardware store that is 2 to 21/2 in [5 to 6 cm] in diameter and, ideally, as long as the width of your work surface. Generally speaking, 40 in [100 cm] is a good length, although you can get away with one as short as 30 in [76 cm] for the recipe yields in this book. If you can, choose pine because it’s affordable and readily available or maple because it’s durable.
Sand the dowel all over with extra-fine 180-grit sandpaper until very smooth. Finish sanding with 320-grit sandpaper. Remove any dust with a brush or dry cloth. Never wash your mattarello. To preserve it for as long as possible, store it in a long canvas or cotton sheath/bag in a dry place.
For general cooking, I use kosher salt because it doesn’t contain additives.
Use whole peppercorns and grind them fresh for each use. Commercial ground black pepper is too fine and lacks character.
The recipes in this book were developed and tested with extra-large organic eggs. Some of the dough recipes call for eggs by weight rather than a specific number of whole eggs. In those cases, to measure the proper amount, place a small bowl on your digital scale and tare it (to tare means to reset the scale to 0). Knowing that extra large eggs weigh about 60 g [2.15 oz] without their shell, crack the necessary number of eggs into the bowl. (To crack them the bolognese way, strike two together; amazingly, only one will break.) Extract some of the whites until you have the desired weight. Increasing the ratio of yolk to whites makes the mixture fattier and more flavorful. Beat the egg(s) before adding them to the flour. Read more about eggs on page 39.
All four Master Dough recipes call for “00” flour, which is more finely milled than regular flour. This allows it to better absorb liquid and results in a more supple dough. I like Caputo “00” flour, which is available at specialty stores and online. I specifically use the “00” pasta and gnocchi flour in the brown bag. King Arthur makes a good substitute and is available in many supermarkets.
One recipe calls for semolina, which is coarsely ground durum wheat. It’s also useful for tossing with raw pasta strands or gnocchi to keep them from sticking. (The large grains don’t get absorbed by and change the dough the way a more powdery flour would.)
Strutto is rendered pork fat and can be made in a variety of ways, most commonly by heating the fatty parts of the pig and melting them to obtain a soft, spreadable fat. You can purchase it at butcher shops or supermarkets, or make your own by heating pancetta or another fatty pork cut over low heat and draining off and cooling the liquefied fat. There’s no substitute for this ingredient, which is essential to reproducing the flavors of bolognese cooking. (Leaf lard, made by rendering the soft fat from around a pig’s kidneys and loin, is fine to use.)
Use whole canned tomatoes rather than crushed. The latter tend to be made with scraps and, as a result, aren’t as good. I like Bianco DiNapoli brand, which is available in specialty stores and online, but you can use any quality canned tomato, preferably San Marzano and ideally organic.
Use authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano and always grate it fresh. (Every cheese bearing the name “Parmigiano-Reggiano” adheres to specific production rules.) Never buy pre-grated cheese, as it is almost always low quality, lacking in flavor, and too dry.
