Preparation time
30 mins to 1 hour
Cooking time
10 to 30 mins
Serves
Serves 2
By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the pasta dough:
- 00 flour: 350g/12oz
- Fine semolina flour: 25g/1oz, plus 50g/1¾oz for dusting
- Free-range eggs: 2 whole eggs beaten with 4 egg yolks
- Baby spinach: 100g/3½oz, cooked and squeezed out
For the tagliolini with crab:
- Olive oil: 2 tbsp
- Garlic cloves: 3, sliced
- Red chilli: 1, chopped
- Datterini tomatoes: 1 handful
- White crab meat: 250g/9oz, picked
To garnish:
- Fresh basil: 1 bunch, leaves picked
- Lemon: 1, zest only
Alternative Ingredients
Datterini tomatoes are known for their sweetness, low water content, and meaty texture, making them ideal for pasta and sauces. If you need a substitute for Datterini tomatoes, consider the following options:
- Plum Tomatoes: These are meatier and have less water content, making them suitable for most recipes that call for Datterini tomatoes
- Cherry Tomatoes: These small, sweet tomatoes can be used as a substitute, especially in recipes where the sweetness of Datterini tomatoes is desired
Method
Making the Pasta Dough
- Combine Ingredients: In a large bowl, mix the 00 flour and fine semolina flour. Add the beaten eggs and 2 tablespoons of water. Use a fork to combine the ingredients until they start to form a dough.
- Process with Spinach: Transfer the dough mixture and cooked spinach to a food processor. Pulse until the spinach is evenly combined with the dough.
- Chill the Dough: Once the dough is smooth, wrap it in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Divide and Roll: Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Place one piece on a work surface dusted with semolina. Keep the other pieces covered with a damp tea towel to prevent drying out. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 5mm/¼ inch thick.
- Use Pasta Machine: Feed the dough through a pasta machine on the widest setting. Fold and feed it through again. Repeat this process four or five times.
- Thin the Dough: Pass the dough through the pasta machine rollers, decreasing the setting grade by grade to the desired thinness (either the penultimate or final setting). If the sheet becomes too long to handle, cut it in half. By the end, you should be able to see your fingers through the pasta. (Alternatively, you can roll the pasta by hand with a rolling pin, though it will be more labour-intensive.)
- Cut the Pasta: Cut the pasta dough into thin, long strips using a sharp knife, or feed the pasta sheets through one of the cutting attachments on the machine.
Preparing the Tagliolini with Crab
- Cook Aromatics: Pour the olive oil into a frying pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and chopped chilli, frying until lightly golden.
- Add Tomatoes and Crab: Add the datterini tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the picked white crab meat.
- Cook the Pasta: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the fresh pasta and cook for 1–2 minutes. Strain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water.
- Combine Pasta and Sauce: Toss the cooked pasta into the pan with the tomatoes and crab, adding a splash of the reserved pasta cooking water to help combine.
Serving
- Garnish: To serve, garnish the dish with fresh basil leaves and lemon zest.