Step 1 Prepare the homemade pasta
For fettuccine dough, you will need:
3 1/2 cups finely ground semolina flour
1/2 cup lemon zest
4 extra large eggs
4 tbsp parsley puree (see recipe below)
1 heaping Tbsp white pepper
A good pinch of salt
Combine all dry ingredients and place on a cutting or baking board in the shape of a mound. Keep additional flour to the side if needed.
In a food processor, combine eggs and parsley puree and process until smooth.
Form a well in the middle of the mound and pour the egg mixture in.
Using a fork, start to incorporate the flour from the inner rim of the well with the mixture in the center. Incorporate fresh flour from the lower portion of the mound, pushing it under the dough that is forming to keep it from sticking to the board.
Use your hands to gather the dough together.
Clean the board with a scraper and incorporate all of the excess mixture into the dough.
Sift the remaining flour gathered from the board and sift over board.
Knead your dough on the sifted flour. Do not sprinkle flour over the dough. Continue kneading for about 2 minutes until dough is no longer wet.
Wrap in plastic and let rest for one hour.
Meanwhile prepare your other ingredients.
Parsley Puree
Plunge two large bunches of flat leaf Italian parsley into a pot of boiling, heavily salted water for 6 seconds.
Transfer immediately to an ice bath.
Remove and drain completely. (This may take time.)
Place the DRY mixture into a blender and process with small amounts of olive oil until completely smooth.
Step 2 Preparing other ingredients
You will need:
One pound yellowfin tuna steak
3/4 cup artichoke hearts rinsed and drained
3 ounces dry porcini mushrooms
2 bunches flat leaf Italian parsley
3 ounces garlic
3 ounces red onion
One small head of bitter greens: frisee, chicory, escarole, arugula
One large fennel bulb with tops intact
2 cups high-quality vegetable stock.
Cut the yellowfin tuna into cubes. Dust lightly in fresh pepper and kosher salt. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Drain juice from artichoke hearts and discard. Quarter the artichoke hearts and set aside in the refrigerator.
Julienne the bottom half of the fennel bulb. Add the tops to the vegetable broth.
Soak 3 ounces of the dry porcini mushrooms in warm water. Drain water after a 3 minute soak and pat dry.
Mince 3 ounces of fresh garlic
Mince 3 ounces red onion.
Clean one head of frisee or other bitter greens. Spin dry and set aside in refrigerator.
Step 3 Preparing the Dish
Bring a medium stock pot to a boil (start with cold water). Add a huge handful of coarse salt when it boils.
Bring your vegetable stock to a hard simmer.
Prepare fettuccine with hand pasta machine.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium heat.
Add garlic and stir until golden brown.
Add onions and stir until golden brown.
Add mushrooms.
Add fennel, cook until soft (about three minutes).
Remove all ingredients and set aside. Wipe pan and return to fire.
Heat olive oil until it slightly smokes. Add tuna and cook until golden brown.
Add artichoke hearts.
Add previously cooked ingredients that you just removed.
Add one cup vegetable broth.
Lower flame, cover and plunge fettucine in boiling water. When it floats, (fresh pasta cooks 10 times quicker than dry), drain and toss gently in tuna/mushroom/fennel/artichoke mixture.
Add frisee, and add lemon juice
If mixture seems dry, facilitate tossing with olive oil.
Add additional lemon zest, cracked pepper, minced parsley and chards of aged grating cheese and kosher salt if desired.
Serve |