The Man Who Ate Everything - Jeffrey Steingarten [118]
Divide the dough into six roughly equal pieces and roll each one eight or nine times through a pasta machine with the rollers at the widest setting, folding the dough and turning it after each pass. Thin each piece of dough at increasingly narrow settings until you have sheets a bit thicker than ordinary pasta (usually setting 5) and about 20 inches long. Place the sheets flat on a very lightly floured surface, dust with a little flour, and let them dry until their surface begins to resemble leather but before they become brittle. Turn them over to dry the other side. Total drying time will be 15 to 30 minutes.
Working with the sheets of dough one at a time, fold from one short end to the other several times into a compact shape 3 inches long; trim the ragged edges with a flat-bladed knife, then cut into ⅛-inch strips. Unfold the noodles and let them dry as you work on the other sheets. Then let them dry further, for up to a half day.
Just before dinnertime, put 6 quarts of cold water in a large covered pot over a high flame. Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter (one stick) in a small skillet over medium heat and, when it stops sizzling, turn the flame to low and add the chopped sage. Let the butter infuse for 20 minutes as it lightly browns. Strain out the sage. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, two or three grindings of white pepper, the Parmesan, and the meat broth, and keep warm. Warm a large heatproof bowl and your pasta plates in a low oven.
When the water comes to a boil, add 4 tablespoons of salt, let the water come to the boil again, and add all the noodles at once, stirring until the water boils again. Cook the noodles at a full boil until they lose their rubbery texture but are still resistant to the bite—as long as 5 minutes, depending on how long you have let them dry. After 2 minutes, test them every 30 seconds by fishing out a noodle and eating it.
Drain the pasta very well, and put it into the large warm bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of softened butter into small pieces, add to the pasta, and toss. Divide the pasta among 6 to 8 warm plates, decorate each serving with a sage leaf, and quickly shave the truffles over each serving in paper-thin slices using either a truffle grater or the wide blade on a four-sided vegetable grater. Serves 6 to 8.
Cesare’s Favorite Bagna Caôda
This famous sauce of the Piedmont is kept bubbling at the table and used for dipping vegetables. Many restaurants in the Piedmont serve bagna caôda spooned over wide strips of roasted, peeled red and yellow bell peppers.
Divide a large head of garlic (about 3 ounces) into cloves. Peel and trim the garlic cloves, and cut them crosswise into ⅛-inch slices. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of Barolo to the boil, add the garlic, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add 1½ ounces of anchovy fillets (8 to 10 of them) and ½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil, and simmer for a moment or two more. Add 4 tablespoons of butter and simmer very slowly for 45 minutes, until the anchovies dissolve. You can prepare this bagna caôda in advance, but do not refrigerate it. Simply reheat it at the table.
Cesare makes a milder version by simmering the garlic slices in 1 cup of milk for 2 minutes and straining out the milk before adding the Barolo, anchovies, oil, and butter. This is the Dei Cacciatori House Special.
Sugo d’Arrosto
Sage and Meat Sauce for Tagliarini, Agnolotti, and Other Pastas
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet, add 6 large fresh sage leaves and a peeled garlic clove, and lightly brown the butter over medium heat. Remove the garlic, add 1½ cups of meat broth, simmer for a moment, and remove from heat. Cook enough pasta for 6 people (¾ to 1 pound as a light appetizer) in ample boiling salted water until it is just al dente—it will cook further in the sauce. Bring the sauce back to simmer, add the pasta and 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan very loosely packed, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, tossing until the cheese has disappeared and the pasta is hot. Divide the