Fazzoletti, which in Italian loosely translates to "handkerchief," is a type of super thin pasta rolled with herbs and popular throughout the Mediterranean- each country having their own herbal profile and serving style. This is a beautiful, artistic, and creative type of pasta, which allows for endless combinations of herbs and flavor profiles. The following is my original recipe.
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| 2 cups of King Arthur's Wheat Flour, three Pete and Gerry's Heirloom Eggs, two tables spoons of olive oil and blend by hand until firm dough develops. Add a few drops of water if it is still a bit dry. It should be somewhat stiff dough. |
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| Roll dough into ball and wrap with cling wrap. Refrigerate for a few hours. |
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| Clean & prepare your herbs. This required about 2 cups. I used: parsley, watercress, and dill.You can get as creative as you want with the combination of greens. Don't be afraid to mix in lettuce varieties. |
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| Split the large dough ball into four smaller discs. Using pasta roller, roll until it's very thin. I turned the knob all the way to 6 to allow it to be nearly translucent. Cut the super long sheet in equal halves. |
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| The fun part! Decorate one half of the sheet with herbs. You can add garlic powder , dried herbs, salt & pepper at this point. The skies the limit with creativity. |
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| Lay the other half of the pasta sheet on top, in essence making a giant pasta sandwich . Press them together gently as not to mess up your herb art. Use a rolling pin to get the two sheets to stick together to pass through roller again. |
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| I rolled the sheets through setting 4 and five again. It should stretch and distort the herbs into beautiful patterns, reminiscent of a handkercheif. |
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| I think they look like fern fossils, so I nicknamed it "Fossil pasta." Cut the pasta sheets however you prefer. I sliced them into square-ish bits to keep the integrity of the "image" |
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| Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a slow boil and drop in the pasta peice by peice. Let cook 5-6 minutes and fish them out with a pasta fork or slotted spoon. They stayed in tack quite nicely. |
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| They looked almost too pretty to eat... ALMOST! I served them with a simple drizzle of garlic and shallot sautteed in olive oil and white wine; then topped with grated Parmesan. Fazzoletti has a distinctly herbal flavor, but not too overpowering. This pasta is a total 'looker' and makes a beautiful side dish or can stand on its own-- as in this case. Just served with a crunchy side salad and asparagus. |
