Pork meatballs with tagliatelle

  • medium
  • 4
  • 2 hours 30 minutes
Not yet rated

Russell Brown's delicious pork meatballs recipe is brimming with Italian flavours, such as fresh sage, olive oil and fennel. Making fresh pasta at home is not as tricky as it sounds, but if you have never done it before take a look at our guide on How to cook pasta before you begin.

First published in 2015
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Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

For the meatballs

For the pasta

  • 1 free-range egg, plus additional egg yolks to make up 115g
  • 5g of olive oil
  • 200g of 00 flour
  • 7g of Maldon salt, fine ground
  • semolina, for dusting

For the sauce

To serve

Equipment

  • Pasta machine

Method

1
Begin by preparing the pasta. Make an egg mix by whisking the whole egg and the yolks with olive oil. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor and turn it on, gradually adding the egg mix to the bowl
2
Pulse until the mix has a fine breadcrumb like texture; it should form a firm yet pliable dough which can be squashed between the fingers, but doesn’t feel too sticky or soft
3
On a clean work surface, knead the dough and then lightly oil. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge
4
Using a pasta machine, roll out the dough, reducing the width each time, until you can just see your fingers through the sheet. Dust a work surface with semolina, lay the sheet on top and dust more semolina over the top
  • semolina, for dusting
5
Carefully lift the sheet and make several folds into the pasta, creating many zigzag (concertina) layers. Use a sharp knife to cut through the folds at roughly 1cm intervals. Once sliced all the way across, delicately separate the layers into tagliatelle strands, loosely bunch portions together and place in the fridge until needed
6
Make the meatballs by thoroughly combining all of the ingredients (except the oil) together in a bowl. Separate a small piece of the mix and fry in a pan until cooked through. Taste the meatball sample and add more seasoning to the raw mix if needed. Use the mixture to form 24 small meatballs and leave them in the fridge to firm up until required
7
Once rested, colour the meatballs in a little oil in a heavy-based frying pan until nicely coloured on the outside. Transfer to a plate and return the pan to the heat. Add the fennel and garlic to the pan and cook until they begin to soften. Add the white wine, cook until reduced to a syrup then add in the chopped tomatoes and meatballs
8
Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for 40 minutes over a gentle heat, topping up with water if required to ensure the meatballs remain covered. Cook until the sauce reduces to a coating consistency, seasoning to taste. When the sauce is almost ready to serve, add the chopped sage to the pan
9
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until just al dente. After draining the pasta, reserve some of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pan, tossing it around with some good quality olive oil. Use a drop of the reserved cooking water to loosen any pasta that sticks to the pan
10
Place equal portions of the pasta into bowls and place the meatballs and sauce on top, drizzling the pasta and meatballs with good quality olive oil. Scatter the bowls with the Parmesan shavings and serve immediately
First published in 2015
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Russell Brown has achieved Michelin stardom on his own terms, impressing inspectors with his honest, unfussy creations and sound approach to restaurant management.

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