Silhouette pappardelle with cold tomato sauce recipe

By Michela Chiappa from Simply Italian

Michela Chiappa's pasta ribbons are packed with herbs and served with a punchy, chilled tomato sauce in this recipe from Simply Italian

Michela Chiappa: "We always begged our mum to make this recipe when we were on holiday in Italy. It's a chilled tomato sauce served over hot pasta. The hot and cold combination is so delicious on a hot summer's day. It's got quite a lot of garlic in it too, so be prepared for some strong flavours!"

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

200g tipo "00" pasta flour
2 large free-range organic eggs
Extra flour and polenta, for dusting
Large handful basil leaves
Large handful chervil leaves
Large handful flat-leaf parsley leaves

For the tomato sauce

6 large tomatoes (approx. 600g)
4 cloves garlic
Large handful basil, roughly chopped
4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Making the pasta

Place the flour on a board or in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs in to the well, add a pinch of salt then with a fork, mix the egg into the flour as much as possible so it's not sticky. Don't worry if there are lumps in the dough. Keep mixing and then when crumbs form put it on a flat surface and knead together. You can also speed this up by mixing your ingredients in a food processor until they bind. Once it is all combined, knead until you have a silky smooth elastic dough. You are aiming to achieve a playdough texture. If your dough is crumbly (too dry) add a teaspoon of olive oil. If the dough is sticks to your hands (too wet) add a little extra flour. Cover with cling film and rest for 30 minutes.
If you are using a pasta roller, take tennis ball-sized amounts of dough, squash them flat with your fingers (remember to keep the rest of your dough covered with the cling film so it doesn't go dry and crusty), push them through the pasta roller on the widest setting. Fold into thirds, and repeat 3 times. Once you have a rough square shape, start working it through the machine, taking it down one setting at a time, until the thinnest setting. If your pasta is too sticky, it won't go through smoothly, so add a little flour to each side before you put it through the roller.
You should end up with long sheets of pasta. You can also roll by hand using a rolling pin but you'll need some serious elbow grease to get your pasta sheets really thin and wide (about 1 playing card thick).
Lay the pasta out flat on a floured surface, spritz half of it with water to help your herbs stick, then place the herb leaves in lines along half the pasta with about 1cm between each line.
Spritz the other half of the pasta with water and fold over the first half to cover the herbs. Press down to help seal the two sheets together, then dust the top of the pasta with some flour so that you can pass your rolling pin over the top, further securing the sheets together and rolling the pasta slightly thinner. Don't press too hard though, as you could bruise the leaves.
Fold in to three, trim the edges, and cut long, 2.5cm wide strips. Unfold, and place onto a tray dusted with polenta, or hang on clean coat hangers and leave to air dry for 10-15 minutes.

Preparing the sauce

Prick the tomatoes with the tip of a sharp knife and place into a pan of boiling water for around 2 minutes, or until the skin starts to split. Remove them from the water, carefully peel off the skin and discard. Roughly chop the flesh, sieve to remove the excess liquid and place in a mixing bowl.
Put the garlic cloves onto a board and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Using the flat side of a knife, squash down on the garlic, moving back and forth to make a paste. Add this to the bowl along with the roughly chopped basil, olive oil, a little sea salt and black pepper, and give it a good stir. Place in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
Toss your pasta into a pan of boiling salted water and cook for around 1-2 minute until al dente. Place in a bowl and spoon over the chilled tomato sauce before serving.

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