The Story
Happy Sunday!
We’ve had a few questions lately about double-sided striped pasta. It is a little trickier than laying stripes on top of a second sheet of pasta, but satisfying when you get it right (and of course more versatile in that you get your pattern on both sides). Working on our book over this last year or so, I’ve focused on pairing more complicated pasta with simpler sauces, and vice versa. It just allows you to save a little time on one element, and use that to create something special with another.
So the dough and pasta is the focus here, although the confit purée is deceptively impressive for its simplicity – you certainly don’t have to sacrifice flavour to save time! This is our Striped Ricotta Fagottini with Garlic and Fennel Confit Purée.
The Pasta
First off, prepare your two doughs. When I’m making multi-coloured dough, I often mix all but the colouring ingredients together, before splitting the dough into the required number of lumps. A food processor will then help to evenly distribute the colour throughout the relevant dough (in this case the spirulina). Add a little water if it becomes too dry while you’re doing this. Knead and rest.
The confit purée is mostly hands off, so you can save a little time and have this cooking while the dough sits around. Just fill a thing with oil, bring it to medium heat, and then submerge the fennel, garlic, and rosemary. Drop to low heat and cook for 45 minutes, then allow to cool and blend until smooth, seasoning to taste.
Returning to the pasta, roll that dough out into thick sheets and cut into fettuccine-width strips. You can use a machine cutter, though it may struggle with the thicker dough. If this is the case, use a narrow-set pasta bike or a sharp knife. On baking paper, lightly dusted with semolina, align the stripes lengthwise in alternating colours to the width of regular pasta sheets. Roll through the pasta machine to your final pasta thickness, medium-thin.
Cut the pasta into 6-7cm squares, mix the filling ingredients together, and stick a dollop into the centre of each square. Make fagottini! Simply bring the corners together in pairs, pinching the very tips but leaving the top and edges open. Draw those same pinched corners together to meet above the filling, and press together to form a pyramid. Seal the remaining open edges.
Fagottini certainly doesn’t have to be cooked potsticker style, but we’re kind of obsessed with it. So that’s what we’re doing here. Just fry it up in batches (flat side down), using around 2 tbsp of oil at a time, in a medium-hot pan until the undersides are brown and crispy. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed or evaporated.
Plate the pasta with dollops of confit purée, a drizzle of oil retained from cooking, any fennel fronds that you’ve still got lying around (or deliberately retained), some edible flowers if you like, and a fresh crack of black pepper if that’s your thing. Simple, but sure to impress!
Buon appetito,
Al, Al, and El.
Ingredients
Pasta Dough
- 250 g plain flour
- 150 g 00 flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp green spirulina
Confit Purée
- 160 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 160 g fennel chunky slices (optional, reserve some of the finer fronds for plating)
- 2 heads garlic separated and peeled
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Pasta Filling
- 300 g fresh ricotta
- 40 g pecorino Romano finely grated
- 1 egg
To Cook and Plate
- 120 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
- edible flowers optional
Instructions
- To prepare the dough, form a well with all of the dry dough ingredients, except for the spirulina. Add the eggs and 1 tbsp of olive oil into the centre and bring together into a loose shaggy mass.
- Take half of the dough and blitz it in a food processor with the green spirulina. You shouldn’t need more than 1 minute to achieve an even colouration in the dough.
- Knead both lumps of dough, the plain and green, separately for 10 minutes. You can either knead one in each hand, or seal one in cling wrap while you knead the other. Rest both for 30 minutes, wrapped tightly, away from heat and any direct sunlight.
- While the dough rests, prepare the confit purée. Bring the oil up to medium heat in a frypan deep enough to submerge the confit ingredients, and then add the fennel, garlic, and rosemary. Drop the heat to low and cook for around 45 minutes, until everything has softened. Allow to cool, before blending until smooth. Season to taste.
- Next, return to the pasta, and roll each dough in turn through a pasta machine. Beginning on the thickest setting, pass it through folding over itself a few times, and then gradually step it through to a medium-thick thickness. Chop the sheets into manageable lengths of around 30-40 cm.
- Using a fettuccine attachment, cut both colours of pasta into long strips. If too thick for the fettuccine cutter, use a pasta bike on its narrowest setting, or slice by hand. Separate out flat on a lightly semolina-dusted wooden board.
- On baking paper, arrange alternating strips of fettuccine side by side, to form a striped pattern of regular pasta sheet width. If the inner edges aren’t sticking to each other, lightly wet a finger and carefully run it down one of the edges before pushing the two back together. Trim any jagged narrow edges.
- Dust the upper side of the new sheet with semolina, then flip over, peel the baking paper off, and dust the other side. Pass through the pasta machine, stepping through to a medium-thin thickness. Use a pasta bike (or knife) to cut into squares of 6-7 cm.
- Mix together the filling ingredients with a fork, and then place a grape-sized dollop into the centre of each square. Bring the corners together in pairs, pinching the very tips but leaving the top and edges open. Draw those same pinched corners together to meet above the filling, and press together to form a pyramid. Seal the remaining open edges. Transfer to baking paper lined, lightly semolina dusted oven tray until ready to cook. Refrigerate uncovered for up to 24 hours if necessary.
- Fry the pasta in batches (flat side down), using around 2 tbsp of oil at a time, in a medium-hot pan until the undersides are brown and crispy. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover, and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until all of the water has been absorbed or evaporated.
- Plate the pasta with dollops of confit purée, any retained fennel fronds, a drizzle of oil left over from cooking the pasta, and a few (optional) edible flowers. Finish with a fresh crack of black pepper, if desired.
So, what is spirulina? what should I look for when trying to source this? is it a powder, liquid, something link spinach, that I would prepare to use a colorant? thanks for any tips on sourcing spirulina. cheers, Fred
Hi Fred, I’m sorry for the very late reply. Spirulina is actually a type of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), that you can buy in powder form. Sometimes whole food or health shops stock it, but it should also be easy enough to order online. We do mainly use it as a colourant, but it also gives the pasta a slightly seafood-esque flavour (and your meal a hit of nutrition).
thanks Alec, will have to give it a try, now that I have an idea of what I’m looking for… love the site and creativity. cheers, Fred
Hello! if i where to boil the pasta from frozen, for how long should i boil it for? Thank you!
Hello! It’s hard to say, as it depends on how thick your dough is. Usually 5-6 minutes, but I recommend testing one around this time and leaving longer if necessary. Just cut (or bite) into one – it should be firm but show no raw, whiter coloured dough in the centre. Hope that helps!