HAND-ROLLED CASARECCE WITH LEMON & SAFFRON

Recipes & food styling Sean Connolly / Photography Jamie Bowering

	1 x 750ml bottle white wine
	3 pinches saffron threads
	20ml lemon juice
	420g butter, cut into 1cm cubes
	zest of ½ lemon, to serve
	1 teaspoon chopped chives, to serve
	HAND-ROLLED CASARECCE
	180g semolina, plus extra for sprinkling
	180g ‘00’ pasta flour
	10g salt
	175ml warm water

1.	To make the sauce, place the wine and saffron into a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce to a volume of 175ml. Cool. (This makes more wine/saffron reduction than you will need but it keeps well in the fridge or can be frozen.)
2.	Put 85ml of the wine/saffron reduction and the lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
3.	Add 4-5 cubes of butter, put back on the heat and allow to come back to the boil.
4.	Remove from the heat and blend with the hand blender until the butter is incorporated.
5.	Place back on the heat and repeat the previous step until all the butter is in the sauce.
6.	Season well with salt and white pepper.
7.	Drop the pasta in boiling, salted water and cook for 3-4 minutes then drain.
8.	Bring the sauce to a simmer.
9.	Place the cooked pasta in the pan with the sauce and toss to coat well.
10.	Serve the pasta in bowls and spoon over any remaining sauce.
11.	Top with lemon zest and chopped chives.
12.	HAND-ROLLED CASARECCE
13.	Mix the semolina and flour together, pile into a mound then make an indent in the centre leaving approx. 1cm thickness on the bottom and even walls all the way around.
14.	Dissolve the salt in the water, then slowly pour into the indent making sure to keep the side walls intact.
15.	Stir with a fork to combine the flour and water into a loose ball and knead until fully incorporated. The dough will be dry. If necessary, add a little more water (a spray bottle is a good way to do this).
16.	Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes.
17.	Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature before using. If you’re not using it after 30 minutes, put it in the fridge.
18.	To form into casarecce, separate the dough into 7-8 pieces.
19.	Working with one piece at a time (return what is not being used to the plastic wrap), roll into a long thin sausage of around 1cm in diameter.
20.	Cut into approximately 5cm lengths.
21.	Use a narrow dowel or knitting needle and align it horizontally to each piece of pasta, rolling from one long side to another.
22.	Apply gentle downwards pressure as you go, so that the dough rolls slightly up and around the dowel.
23.	Transfer the rolled casarecce to a tray sprinkled lightly with semolina.

Sean Connolly

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