Pasta dough
- 500g ‘OO’ pasta flour
- 12 large, free range egg yolks
- Extra virgin olive oil, about 1 tbsp
- 50ml Water (we use saffron infused water, not essential. Plain, tap water is fine).
Pesto
- 250 g fresh wild garlic washed and spun dry in a salad spinner
- 2 cloves garlic
- 50g toasted pine kernels
- 70g Parmesan
- 400ml extra virgin olive oil
Onion
- 2 medium English onions(they’re full of flavour and naturally sweet).
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig fresh thyme leaves
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Winchester crackers
- 100g finely grated Old Winchester
- 1 non stick baking tray
Pappardelle pasta dough
In a food processor, blend flour and egg yolks with olive oil until you get a breadcrumb texture.
Gradually add the water until the breadcrumbs resemble a pebble texture.
At this point stop the machine and pinch some of the dough together. It should have an elastic feel. If it feels a little too dry to work into a cylinder work a little more water into it.
When you have the desired texture, turn onto a clean work surface and knead together by hand. This will make the dough a bit more resilient and elastic in texture.
Roll into a cylinder shape, wrap in cling film and refrigerate, ideally overnight
Pesto
Blend all ingredients together in a food processor, you can have it as coarse or fine as you like.
Check seasoning and store in an airtight jar until ready to use.
Onion
Slice onions and garlic very thinly, ideals on a mandolin.
Warm the butter in a sauté pan over a medium heated the onion, garlic and thyme leaves with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently we’re looking for the onions to start to caramelise but not burn. This brings more natural sweetness from the onions.
When they are a caramel brown add the vinegar and reduce.
Check seasoning and set aside
Old Winchester crackers
Spoon small heaps of the grated cheese onto the tray leaving a gap of at least 3cm.
Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until the cheese is bubbling and turning brown at the edges.
Remove from the oven and cool.
Pappardelle pasta
Take the dough from the fridge
On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into a long, rectangle shape.
When thin enough start to work this dough through your pasta machine, set on its thickest setting.
After the first turn, fold dough over so you roll at a double thickness(this helps to give a better ‘bite’ to the pasta when it’s cooked).
Repeat this process 3-4 times more on the same thickest setting on the machine.
Then, start to decrease the thickness on the pasta machine and roll through. You may need to add a little more flour as you work the pasta, do be careful not to add more than is necessary. One turn through each thickness is fine at this stage. Depending on your machine setting, you are looking for the pasta to be half mm thick.
We cut our pappardelle freehand with the tip of a sharp knife, about 2cm thick.
Hang over pasta rails/ drier(we use wrapped and sanitised broom handles) until ready to use. The pasta will keep for a while too when dried. Once it’s dry it can be stored in airtight containers.
When ready to serve, bring a pan of boiling water to the boil with a handful of salt and a splash of olive oil
In a sauté pan, gently warm the onion confit(we add some whole garlic leaves to this too).
Cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes depending on how al dente you like your pasta. Toss through the onion confit, garlic leaves and stir through some of the pesto.
Dress plates with more pesto then spoon the pasta, grate over some more Old Winchester, scatter the crackers and serve.
