Italian Egg Noodles (tagliatelle) recipe by In Cucina con Lori

Don’t be intimidated! It is a super-easy recipe as Italian Egg noodles (tagliatelle all’uovo, in Italian) could be very “forgiving”!…you really can’t mess up.

Easy and only 3 ingredients needed, actually it requires the most basic pastry ingredients: Eggs, Flour and Extra Virgin Olive oil (EVO oil).

Nothing else but the “homemade factor”.

Please do not misunderstand me, although super-easy, the perfect egg noodles requires experience and dedication but the 3 ingredients stay exactly the same.

equipment

All you need is a Rolling Pin (mattarello in italian) and a proper working surface called Pastry Board (spianatoia in italian). No pasta machine, no bread machine, no planetary mixer, no drying racks, no marble board….

Italian Egg Noodles ingredients:

• 4 Eggs;
• 400g double zero Flour;
• a spoon of EVO oil (Extra Virgin Olive oil)

Usually,  1egg and 100g of flour per person.   That’s it!

How to:

step-by-step procedure and videos are available throughout this article.

– Making Dough: pour the flour on the pastry board and give it the shape of a large volcano (as large as the content of 4 eggs). Add eggs, oil and, with the help of a fork, start mixing from the inside the twos together (see video) until flour, eggs and oil come together in a ball. The dough ball surface should be as sticky as a Post-it
– Kneading: on a well floured pastry board and with well floured hands, knead the dough. On time-to-time add a pinch of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Allow dough to rest covered with a light clean cotton towel (it should not dry) for 15 minutes. Split the ball in two halves

– Rolling Out: With a rolling pin, roll out dough onto the floured Pastry Board until it’s very thin. This is the most difficult part for beginners, it requires experience and good dexterity (see video) or… a lot of time and patience, but don’t give up. The final foil should be less than 2mm thick or paper thin. Allow the dough foil to rest and dry for 10-15′. Fold the foil several times (see video)
– Cutting Noodles: Using a sharp knife cut the folded dough foil into 0.5 – 1cm wide strips. Unfold the strips into noodles. Form a nest onto the palm of your left hand and allow tagliatelle nest to rest few minutes or until completely dried.
– Cooking and Serving: add egg noodles nests to a pot of boiling water and cook until they surface (about 2-3 minutes). Drain egg noodles and serve with ragù and either Parmigiano cheese or Roman Pecorino cheese (no cheddar, no parmesan please).

♦️ Few tips and advices for perfect Italian Egg Noodles:

1. Fettuccine, tagliatelle e pappardelle. Same ingredients, different size. I wrote earlier on this post to cut the folded dough foil into 0.5-1cm wide strips: the lesser is fettuccine the wider is pappardelle.

2. tastier egg noodles. Add 1 yolk every 4 eggs (1/4 yolk per egg) to get both more yellow coulored noodles and tastier noodles.

3. Storage tips: Dry them out by laying them on the pastry board or a pastry drying rack. Then place them in a air-tight bag and in case of:

• few days storage: refrigerate
• up to a 3 months storage when frozen. Important Tip: pour frozem noodles in a pot of boiling water, yes from frozen. Do not defrost.

4. to properly roll out the dough in a thin foil…see the video and the movement of open hands on it: no pressure onto the pastry board, kindly push out, instead. It could be difficult for beginners but don’t give up because the reward is worth the effort.