Tagliolini in meat broth

Wider than capellini, but thinner than noodles, tagliolini are a type of egg pasta typical of the Italian cuisine. About 0.039 inch thick, their length is just over that of spaghetti and they cook very quickly, just like all fresh homemade egg pasta. They go well with delicate sauces that do not cover their delicate flavour, such as butter, fish, shellfish, vegetables or lemon sauces. We recommend that you serve them in a meat broth, following one of the most typical and traditional recipes in Emilian cuisine.

 

Ingredients (serves 6 people)

For tagliolini:
1.1 lbs. of super-fine flour
5 eggs
salt q.v.


2 carrots
1 celery
1 tablespoon of cooking salt

To begin with, prepare the meat broth, because it will take about 3 hours to cook. Peel the onion and the carrots, rinse the celery and put all the vegetables, the meat and bone in a pot filled with cold salted water. Cover, bring to a boil and let them simmer over low flame for about three hours. Check the pot from time to time and remove the fat, the foam and meat residues coming to the surface. After three hours, turn off the flame and remove the vegetables and meat. The meat can be eaten warm, with mostarda and it’s going to be delicious. Use a strainer to filter the broth. While waiting for the broth to cook, prepare the tagliolini. Pour the flour onto a board, leaving a well in the center. Add 5 whole eggs and a pinch of salt. Mix everything together with a fork, gradually incorporating all the flour. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, adding a few tablespoons of warm water if the dough is too dry, or a little flour if it is too soft. Form a ball of dough and let stand for about 15 minutes, covered with a damp cloth. Flour a rolling pin and the board and roll the dough out till it gets really thin. Cut it into strips about 6 inch wide with a pastry wheel cutter and lightly dredge in flour, then roll the strips up by the short side, to form cylinders. Sprinkle with flour, so they do not stick, then cut with a knife rings about 0.1 inch thick. Unroll them immediately, sprinkle with flour and let them rest for 30 minutes. Homemade tagliolini cook really fast: about 1 minute from the time the broth starts to boil.

A word of advice:
if you want the broth to be as light and thin as possible, prepare it several hours before and let it cool in the refrigerator, so you can remove the layer of fat that will have formed on the surface.