Winter pasta
Jill and I made two kinds of pasta for gifts this winter.
Mole negra tagliatelle
We made more of this kind than the saffron, and there were a few iterations of this recipe. Most mole recipes use toasted chili peppers; we used reduced fruit juices plus cayenne pepper.
Reduced red juices 1
- 2 part grape juice
- 1 part cherry juice
- 1 part blueberry juice
Reduce to one-fourth the original volume.
Reduced red juices 2
- 4 parts grape juice
- 3 parts cherry juice
- 2 parts blueberry juice
Reduce to one-fifth the original volume.
Mole pasta dough
Dry ingredients:
- 445g all-purpose flour
- 445g semolina flour
- 25g medium chili powder
- 12g cocoa
- 9g ground cinnamon
- 4g kosher (non-iodized) salt
- 11g cayenne pepper
Wet ingredients:
- 5 eggs (248g)
- 26g reduced red juices
- 41g water
- 4g almond extract
- 6g hazelnut extract
As needed:
- Additional water, semolina flour
Mix the dry ingredients together well. Add wet ingredients and work into a smooth dough, adding extra water and/or semolina flour as needed. Form dough into a ball, rub a little extra semolina around the outside to prevent sticking, place in a bowl, cover with a wet towel, and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour. Roll and cut to desired thickness and shape; cook immediately or hang to dry.
In retrospect, we could probably have reduced the juices less, and skipped the 41g water, but we made several batches' worth of reduced juice at once.
Saffron fettucine
- 2g saffron (about 2 teaspoons, or extra to taste)
- 1/3 cup water
- 400g all-purpose flour
- 400g semolina flour
- 3g salt
- 5 egg yolks
Crush saffron. Boil water, add saffron, stir and allow to steep. Combine flours and salt, mix well. Incorporate eggs, saffron and water into flour (use a spatula to move all of the saffron), and work into a dough, adding extra water and/or semolina flour as necessary. Form dough into a ball, rub a little extra semolina around the outside to prevent sticking, place in a bowl, cover with a wet towel, and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour. Roll and cut to desired thickness and shape; cook immediately or hang to dry.