Tagliatelle with chestnut flour: recipe and seasonings

Tagliatelle with chestnut flour is a first course with an autumnal flavor that goes well with many condiments. Here is the recipe.

For a long time, chestnuts were the "bread of the poor", an indispensable food for farmers and breeders who did not have access to soft wheat, reserved for the wealthier classes. From their ingenuity, chestnut flour was born, then used to create recipes with a rustic but genuine flavour . This is the case of tagliatelle with chestnut flour, a tasty first course that lends itself well to being served with many condiments.

To prepare them you will need chestnut flour, eggs and 00 flour. Let's not forget that the product obtained from grinding chestnuts is gluten-free and therefore more difficult to work with. “Cutting it” with 00 flour or with a mixture of 00 and semolina will allow you to obtain delicious tagliatelle or other forms of fresh chestnut pasta such as lasagna , pappardelle or maltagliati .

How to prepare the recipe for tagliatelle with chestnut flour

1. First, combine the two flours in a bowl and give them a quick mix. Make a hole in the center and break the eggs then start incorporating the flour using a fork. If you have one available you can also use the planetary mixer equipped with the hook.
2. When the dough has taken consistency, transfer it to the pastry board and finish working it by hand , forming a ball. Wrap it in cling film or place it under an inverted bowl: it must rest for at least 30 minutes . Pasta with chestnut flour will have a dark color : this is completely normal!
3. After this period of time , roll out the fresh pasta . You can use a rolling pin , if you have good manual skills, or the appropriate machine . In this case, divide it into three parts and roll out one piece at a time starting from the greatest thickness and gradually reducing it until the last or penultimate notch depending on whether you prefer thicker or less thick tagliatelle.
4. If you have the appropriate die , pass the dough to obtain perfect tagliatelle, vice versa, distribute a little semolina over the pasta, roll it around the long side and cut your tagliatelle with a knife (according to the Bolognese they must be 7 mm wide ).
5. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, allowing about 1 minute after it starts boiling again . In all cases we advise you to taste before draining and to be ready with the sauce.

Preparation tips and the egg-free variant

There are three tips for preparing these tagliatelle that we would like to give you, in reality they are quite intuitive but secondly it is right not to omit them, to obtain a perfect result:

• Not all eggs are the same so if you notice that the initial dough is too dry and struggling to stick together you can add a spoonful or two of warm water .
• We do not recommend adding salt to the pasta (even the one you buy doesn't contain any) to prevent specks from forming in the dough.
• It is also possible to use a part of re-milled semolina flour : you will need 75 g of it to replace the same weight of 00 flour as seen in this video .

In addition to these tips we also want to assure you that it is possible to prepare tagliatelle with chestnut flour without eggs.

To do this, simply combine the two flours and add water little by little. Mix and continue adding water until you obtain a compact and homogeneous dough. This recipe is lighter and certainly less loaded in taste, but it will not disappoint you.

Tagliatelle with chestnut flour: how to season them

This particular type of pasta goes well with many condiments with a rustic and autumnal flavour . Our favorite condiment is mushroom sauce , even in the richer version with sausage, but they are also excellent with walnut sauce or more simply seasoned with butter and sage, to fully appreciate the flavor of chestnut flour. The more traditionalists will be able to bring them to the table with the classic ragù .

Conservation

The uncooked tagliatelle can be stored in the refrigerator , covered with a cloth, for a couple of days. Once cooked and seasoned, they can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Read also

Chestnut gnocchi (with and without potatoes)