Ingredients

1 batch parsley-speckled fresh egg pasta dough (see recipe)
FOR THE CONFIT EGG YOLKS
4 egg yolks (or however many people you are serving)
500ml light olive oil
FOR THE SAUCE
100g unsalted butter, cubed (I prefer to season the sauce myself, but use salted butter if it is all you have)
1 lemon
a small bunch of fresh dill, leaves picked
pea shoots, to serve (optional)
parmesan, to serve

Handkerchief pasta just means sheets or squares and I love the way they fold on the plate to create little pockets for sauce to pool in. Nothing will impress your guests more than a gloriously golden confit egg yolk just begging to be burst. It is so easy and the combination of a lemony butter sauce and fresh dill finishes it off perfectly. You cook the pasta and butter sauce simultaneously; you will get used to the timing.

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Instructions

1.FOR THE PASTA
2.Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, roll it through a pasta roller on the widest setting, then through the next.
3.Fold your dough in half and repeat this process 2 or 3 times to work the dough before running it twice through each additional setting until you get to the thinnest.
4.Cut the sheets into 15cm x 15cm squares and set aside on trays lined with baking paper (you can stack up the sheets with the paper in between).
5.I usually do four sheets per person for a main.
6.FOR THE CONFIT EGG YOLKS
7.Heat the oven to 65°C fan.
8.Fill a loaf pan with enough olive oil that the yolks will be fully submerged.
9.Carefully place each yolk in the pan and cook in the oven for 50 minutes.
10.Remove with a slotted spoon, being careful not to break them.
11.If you want to do them ahead, they can be kept in the oil in the fridge for a couple of days.
12.FOR THE SAUCE
13.Get a big pot of water on to boil and salt liberally.
14.Melt the butter in a frying pan on a medium heat and when just starting to sizzle, cook the pasta in the boiling water for 2½ minutes.
15.Add a big pinch of salt and the juice of ½ lemon to the butter and whisk to emulsify.
16.When the pasta is almost done, add ¼ cup of pasta water to the butter and whisk again vigorously while shaking the pan to make sure it is completely emulsified and slightly thickened.
17.Add the pasta sheets straight into the butter and let them bubble on low for a minute.
18.Transfer to plates (they will have naturally folded when in the butter) and carefully place an egg yolk on top.
19.Scatter with fresh dill and pea shoots and finish each plate with a squeeze of lemon juice, and grated lemon zest if desired.
20.Serve with freshly grated parmesan at the table.

Recipes & food styling Emilie Pullar / Photography Tony Nyberg / Art direction Fiona Lascelles