Speaking of salsicce from Oliviero, this dish is the perfect accompaniment to our Chianti Classico, making a wonderful weekend lunch.
Serves 4
- 160g Chestnut Flour
- 250g ‘00’ Flour
- 70ml water
- 2 eggs
- 250g Italian pork sausages
- 2 leeks
- 10 sage leaves
- 200ml dry white wine
- 1 lemon zest
- 50g grated parmesan
- Sea salt, black pepper
- Montecalvi Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To make the dough for your pasta, mix together the flours (no need to sift) and make into a volcano shape on your table with a deep well in the middle to host the wet ingredients. Use a fork to combine the water and eggs and then, with the fork, slowly add it to the well in the flour with a slow whisking motion working your way to the outside of the flour mountain. It can seem too dry, but have faith and resist the temptation to add more liquid. Keep scraping away to combine into a dough and then move to your hands to begin kneading. Now you can truly judge the dough – if it is too hard, wet your hands slightly rather than pouring in water, you have more control this way. Knead away, turning the ball of dough by 45 degrees as you go. Even wholemeal dough will become more elastic and smoother through this process. It is ready when the elasticity is right – it should spring back into shape. Set your dough aside to rest for 30 minutes in a slightly damp cloth or tea towel.
Now to the sausages. Open them with a knife and remove the meat. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pan and add the sausage meat breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Add the leeks and sage and fry gently together for around 6-7 minutes. Pour over the wine and cover to simmer on a very low heat for about half an hour until the meat is completely yielding. Grate in the lemon zest.
Meanwhile, your dough is rested, so roll it out either with a rolling pin or a pasta machine to create long sheets. Don’t make the sheets too thin, you need to keep to a couple of mm thickness. Then roll up and cut in to tagliatelle 1cm in width. Then drop into nests on a floured board.
Cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water for 5 minutes and then drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water for the sauce. Toss together using the cooking water if needed and serve with parmesan and a good swirl of Montecalvi Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and a good swirl of Montecalvi Chianti Classico 2020!
