Tagliatelle and tagliolini
Arguably Italy’s most highly regarded pasta,
tagliatelle comes from the word ‘tagliare’,
which means ‘to cut’ (tagliolini is the thinner
version of tagliatelle). This pasta shape can
be found all over Italy, although the birthplace
is considered to be Emilia-Romagna, where
inspiration was supposedly taken from the
long blonde hair of a royal bride. In Emilia-
Romagna there are strict guidelines on the
size, width and thickness of tagliatelle (the
pasta sheet’s thickness is tested by holding
it up against a window to ensure you can see
through it). Of course, I break all the rules
here – I use my machine to cut the strands
and keep them slightly thicker, as I just prefer
that added bite. Purists would argue this is
not tagliatelle, but for you, me and anyone
else who isn’t bound by tradition, I’m going
tocall it tagliatelle or tagliolini.
If you have a tagliatelle and/or tagliolini
attachment on your pasta machine, simply
feed your pasta sheet through the rollers
after letting the pasta ‘cure’ for 5 minutes if
necessary (a wet sheet will be hard to cut and
the strands will stick together; see page 38).
If you don’t have one of these attachments,
follow the instructions above right.
Equipment: n/a
Level: easy
54
Make your desired quantity of egg pasta
dough following the recipe on page 34.
• Roll your dough as thinly as you dare.
For me, this is around 1 mm thick.
• If your dough is sticky, leave the sheet
to slightly ‘cure’ for 5 minutes.
• Lightly our your sheet, then gently fold
it up.
• Using a knife, cut the sheet into ribbons.
– For tagliatelle, cut 8 mm-wide strips
– For tagliolini, cut 2 mm-wide strips
• Unravel the pasta sheet to release
the ribbons.
You can then hang your pasta ribbons over
the back of a chair, on a coat hanger or
anywhere you can. I have a little pasta-drying
stand. You can also curl the pasta into nests
and keep on a well-oured surface.