I’ve been relatively content with the Good Eats pasta dough recipe I’ve been using, but when someone suggested I try out Thomas Keller’s recipe, I was intrigued. It’s got a lot more fat than other recipes – 6 egg yolks and an egg, plus a bit of milk. Kathy and I set out to make it together. We made a well with the flour (we used 00 instead of all-purpose) and added the liquids, then I stirred with my finger while Kathy made sure the flour dam didn’t break. Then, she kneaded it. For a long time. And it was a gorgeous, silky dough. We pushed most of it through the pasta attachment to made bucatini, but it’s very elastic and sturdy and the machine had trouble getting out the last bit.
Kathy suggested we just hand-roll the leftover dough. I’ve never hand-rolled pasta dough, but this dough is so easy to work with, it was a breeze. We rolled it very thin, then hand-cut it into fettuccine. This is my new dough standard, more work but worth it. And the bucatini all’amatriciana is outstanding.
- Thomas Keller’s Pasta Dough (Oshii Eats)
- Bucatini in a Spicy Tomato Sauce with Crisped Pancetta (Fine Cooking #60, November 2003, p. 98c)
- Caesar Salad with Focaccia Croutons (The Conscious Cook, p. 57)
- European Peasant Loaf with Sauteed Garlic Butter (Fine Cooking #43, March 2001, p. 49)
Wine: Williams Selyem 2007 Rochioli Riverblock Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California). I’ve never had a Williams Selyem I don’t like. This one is delicious, fruitier than last night’s Kosta Browne, and Larry liked it better.
