Bottarga Tagliolini

Written by on in Sunday Pasta Club, Sunday Supper, The Basics
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Sunday Pasta Club Ep. 1

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At the beginning of 2023, I decided to spend the year on a journey through the endless different pasta shapes, sauces, doughs, and processes, documenting my journey with all of my mistakes, the deliciousness, and the not-so-delicious. Show how to fix a recipe when it is not working out and what visual cues you should look for. Mostly I want to show everyone that pasta is something everyone can do and not just left to Italian Nonna’s!

While my dream of releasing a weekly recipe has been hindered by my day job that pays the bills, I will continue to slowly document my journey through all of the fantastic noodles, sauces, and styles of serving pasta. I love how you can take simple ingredients like flour, water, and maybe egg and have a succulent saucy or not-so-saucy, and crave-worthy dish in a short time, or a labor of love for a weekend cooking project.

All of my successes, and “ahem”, mistakes will be documented in my weekly newsletter. To not miss an installment sign up for it today! The recipe below has corrections I made while creating my Grandma’s delicious pasta.

Bottarga Tagliolini with Grandma Frasca's Pasta Dough
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Bottarga Tagliolini with Grandma Frasca’s Pasta Dough

Recipe by Chef JenCourse: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

1

hour 
Cooking time

10

minutes

Quick and easy homemade pasta dish, customize it with any pantry tinned seafood you may have laying about.

Ingredients

  • Grandma Frasca’s Pasta Dough

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more for pasta water

  • 2 tsp olive oil

  • 2 whole eggs

  • Cheesy Breadcrumbs

  • 1/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano

  • 2 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

  • 1 cup bread crumbs, freshly ground

  • Bottarga Sauce

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided (one stick)

  • 4 ounces bottarga

  • zest of 1 Meyer lemon, plus the juice

Directions

  • Pasta Dough
  • In the bowl of a food processor add all of the dough ingredients and process until the dough comes together in a ball. Adjust consistency with flour or water until the dough forms a ball and is not sticky to the touch. Let the dough rest covered for at least 30 mins.
  • Divide the dough in half, keeping the half not being worked with covered so it does not start to dry out. Press out the first half into a flat disk and roll through the pasta roller on the lowest number setting (the widest roller setting). Fold the dough into thirds like an envelope and pass through the first setting again. Repeat this 2 more times for a total of 7 times through the first setting. Then move the roller to the next highest number and roll the pasta sheet 2 times. (the sheet should be almost as wide as the pasta roller, if not fold again to make it the correct width). Continue rolling the pasta sheet through the next numbers, 2 times each, until the sheet is thin enough to read through, or to your desired thickness.
  • Cut the sheets into 15-18″ lengths, and lay the sheets on dry/clean tea towels, or lint-free tablecloth to dry slightly. You want them to be slightly leathery before cutting.
  • When the sheets are slightly leathery (they will also hold their shape if you gently squeeze the middle), pass each sheet one at a time through the Tagliolini cutters. This is the smaller cutter on most pasta machines. Lay the Tagliolini out on the dry tea towels until ready to cook.
  • Cheesy Breadcrumbs
  • While the pasta is resting prepare your breadcrumbs. If using fresh breadcrumbs, you will want to have day-old bread, quite the oxymoron for fresh! You will want to process the day-old bread in a food processor until finely ground.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. When the oil is shimmering add the bread crumbs to the oil and stir to coat. If the bread crumbs do not seem moist add a bit more oil. Stir often until the bread crumbs are golden brown, like honey. Turn the heat off and stir in the Pecorino-Romano.
  • Bottarga Sauce
  • To cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with kosher salt (2 tsp per quart of water: 4 cups).
  • In a skillet over medium heat, add the white wine, and 2/3 of the butter, reserving the rest of the butter to finish the sauce.
  • When the wine has heated up and the butter is melted add the bottarga and whisk to combine.
  • Drop the pasta into the boiling water, and cook for about a total of 45 seconds. Visual cue: The pasta will initially fall to the bottom of the pan, then rise to the top, the water will start to boil again, once it boils let it cook for about 15 seconds.
    Should still be al dente, and have some bite.
  • Quickly, while the pasta is cooking, zest and juice the Meyer lemon into the sauce. Using tongs or a spider, transfer the pasta to the sauce along with about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. Add more water as needed to coat all the noodles and make a silky sauce. Add in the remaining butter and toss to combine. Serve immediately with the cheesy breadcrumbs.

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