Paola is a cousin of my mother, and she is from the Marche region: she is a woman with a great sense of humor and true resourcefulness. She is one of the most resilient people I know.
She prefers to invent tasty but simple dishes for everyday cooking. This very easy first course is truly delightful.

Aunt Paola's Tagliatelle

  • Preparation time: 90 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For pasta:
  • 3 eggs
  • 300 gr or 11 oz of flour
  • For the seasoning:
  • 4 zucchini
  • 1 sausage
  • 1 tablespoon of pine nuts
  • ½ glass white wine
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste.
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Grated Parmesan cheese to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Making pasta. On the pastry board, pour the flour, create a hole in the center, and pour the eggs that you will have slightly beaten. Knead until the mixture is smooth and with lots of little holes. Cover with cellophane and let it rest at room temperature for one hour.
  3. Pull the dough with the dough sheeter up to a thickness of 0 05⁄64inch. Flour the mixture well and cut into strips of about 0 5⁄32inch.
  4. Boil the pasta water in a saucepan.
  5. Wash the zucchini and cut into cubes.
  6. In a pan with some oil, cook the zucchini on low heat for about ten minutes.
  7. In a saucepan, boil the sausage for fifteen minutes to remove some of the fat. Drain them and remove the skin.
  8. Put the chopped sausage in a pan and cook them for a few minutes until they are brownish, deglaze with white wine, and allow the alcohol to evaporate well. Add the sausage to the zucchini and continue cooking for a few minutes.
  9. Toast the pine nuts in a non-stick frying pan for a few minutes.
  10. Salt the pasta cooking water and cook the tagliatelle for about three to four minutes. Drain and stir in the pan with the zucchini and sausage. Add the pine nuts and parmesan. Salt and pepper.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Degrease the sausage before cooking it in a pan to remove some of the fat.
  • If you don’t want to dirty too many pans, you can use the same pan: first toast the pine nuts and then set them aside, then cook the zucchini and set aside, and finally cook the sausage.
  • Always keep a little of the pasta cooking water in order to lengthen the sauce while it is being whipped and to prevent the pasta from becoming too dry.
  • To cook pasta ideally, consider 1 liter or 1 US quart of water for every serving.

 From left: my sister Mirta, myself and Paola