Green garlic and artichoke tagliatelle

Ingredients:

Pasta Dough:

Serves 2 (can easily be doubled for more)

110g plain flour

50g semolina Rimacinata 

90g egg yolks (6-8 eggs)

Pinch salt

Artichoke Pasta:

Serves 2

2 large artichokes, trimmed and prepped down to the hearts, thinly sliced and kept in a bowl of water with 1/2 a lemon squeezed into it

3 tbls. olive oil

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

1 stalk green garlic or 2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tbls. lemon juice

50ml cream or a good knob of butter

Pecorino Romano

Black pepper

1 handful of mixed chopped soft herbs like parsley and mint (could also add small amount of chopped marjoram or oregano, like 1 Tsp.)

Method:

Mix the flours and the salt and then dump onto a flat surface. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks into the well. Mix with a fork at first to slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs and then switch to hands. Knead until the dough comes together. It won’t really be perfectly smooth but knead until it springs back when poked. Wrap in a lightly damp tea towel or a piece of baking paper and allow it to rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Then roll it through a pasta machine. I rolled mine to the #6 where #9 is the thinnest. Cut into tagliatelle and then dust in semolina flour or plain flour and place onto a tray. Keep it lightly covered and refrigerated if you aren’t going to use it straight away.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

Prep your artichokes by removing the tough outer leaves and then use a small pairing knife to trim the entire base of the artichoke and down the stem removing anything that feels fibrous or stringy. Cut the top half of the artichoke flower off and then cut it in half and use a small teaspoon to scoop out the hairy and prickly “choke”. Immediately dunk it into lemon water and leave it submerged. If you are using baby artichokes, they may not have a choke and that part of the process can be skipped. Prep the remaining artichoke and then remove the halves from the water and thinly slice on your chopping board and then return it to the water.

Heat a large, wide sauté pan over medium heat. Add 3 tbls. olive oil and the garlic with pinch of salt and sizzle for a minute. Next, drain the artichokes from the water and add them to the pan with the onion. Sprinkle more salt and then cover the pan with any kind of lid and cook them on low/medium heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, drop your pasta into the boiling water and cook for 1.5-2 minutes. Pick the pasta up out of the water using tongs and drop it into the pan with the artichokes. Add the lemon juice, a ladle full of the pasta water and the cream and toss everything together. Taste for seasoning and make any adjustments.

Place the pasta onto a platter or 2 bowls and grate pecorino or parmesan over the top. Add a drizzle of olive oil and crack of fresh black pepper over the top everything.