Cocoa tagliatelle topped with pumpkin cream are a guaranteed success. If you like to win easily but with taste, try this simple dish with pumpkin that can be prepared in a few minutes. Homemade chocolate-scented tagliatelle that you can dress with a roasted and blended pumpkin cream with oil, salt, ginger, and sage.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 6People
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Fall, Winter
- Energy 331.96 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 57.28 (g) of which sugars 3.80 (g)
- Proteins 12.41 (g)
- Fat 8.18 (g) of which saturated 2.40 (g)of which unsaturated 1.42 (g)
- Fibers 4.11 (g)
- Sodium 305.57 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 7 oz all-purpose flour (also whole wheat)
- 7 oz re-milled durum wheat semolina (plus as needed for the work surface)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 eggs (organic, whole)
- water (only the amount needed to knead)
- Half Delica pumpkin (previously roasted)
- fresh ginger (a small grated piece (optional))
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 grind black pepper (or white, to taste)
- 3 leaves sage (or the needles of a fresh rosemary sprig)
- grated Parmesan cheese (to taste)
Tools
To prepare cocoa tagliatelle with pumpkin cream, you will need an immersion blender and a stand mixer. While you can do without the stand mixer by kneading the tagliatelle by hand, you cannot do without the immersion blender to make the pumpkin creamy and well-seasoned. In addition, you will need a simple pasta machine to roll and cut the dough, although, if you wish, you could use a rolling pin, elbow grease, and a good knife. Below I leave any purchasing advice for tried and tested appliances.
- 1 Immersion Blender Philips Promix
- 1 Stand Mixer Kenwood
- 1 Pasta Machine Imperia
Steps
Mix the two flours and cocoa in the stand mixer bowl, crack the eggs, and start the machine after attaching the dough hook. As the stand mixer works, slowly add water just enough to obtain a soft but dry dough. If you decide to knead by hand, follow the same procedure: form a well on the work surface with the dry ingredients, crack the eggs in the center, and mix with a fork. Continue using hands and gradually adding the necessary water. Let the dough rest while you prepare the sauce.
Clean the pumpkin you previously baked, using about half of it.
(For baked pumpkin: wash the whole pumpkin and bake it as is at 356°F for about 45 minutes. Let it cool, then remove the peel and seeds, keeping the soft flesh. You choose the baking time based on the texture you want to achieve)
Cut the flesh into pieces, place it in the immersion blender cup, add oil, salt, pepper, grated ginger if desired, and a few finely chopped sage leaves. Blend to get a smooth cream, which you’ll set aside until ready to dress.
Place the dough on a semolina-floured work surface, divide it into four or more parts. Using a rolling pin, roll out strips of dough that match the width of the pasta machine roller. Pass each strip through the floured pasta machine twice, increasing the pressure to obtain a thin dough. The thickness of the dough will correspond to that of the tagliatelle, and you must decide it, as it is very subjective. Do you prefer fresh pasta to be thick or thin?
Finally, form the tagliatelle using the Imperia machine, and keep them spread out and well floured with semolina.
If not using a pasta machine, roll out the dough strips by hand until thin. Carefully flour each strip, especially at the edges. Roll the dough from one end to the center and then from the other end to the center: you will get two rolls that meet. Cut with a sharp knife into strings about half an inch wide that you must immediately unroll one by one to prevent them from sticking together.
Prepare a large bowl or a large, deep oval plate (which would be ideal) and put a large pot of water on to boil. Add salt at the first boil, remembering that none was added to the dough. Thin the pumpkin cream with a tablespoon of cooking water and pour some on the bottom of the plate. Cook the pasta: after a few minutes, the tagliatelle will be cooked, taste them, and then gently drain, preferably with tongs or a fork. Mix gently and add the remaining pumpkin cream. Serve at the table where each diner can add cheese if desired.
The Queen’s Secrets
Some useful tips:
1) You can substitute cocoa with chestnut flour: replace 3.5 oz of the total all-purpose flour
2) The tagliatelle can be stored for a few hours very well floured with semolina. But I recommend cooking them immediately
3) The pumpkin cream can be adjusted with a few tablespoons of fresh cream if you have some leftover in the fridge
4) Ginger is optional and can be replaced with a zest of edible lemon peel. I like it because it slightly refreshes the pumpkin, but the unsweetened cocoa in the tagliatelle may be enough.
5) You can substitute cheese with well-fried crispy bacon, with some crumbled roasted chestnuts, or with toasted hazelnut granules.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What is Silvia Tavella’s other blog called? And why does she write two?
I write two blogs because they are two completely different things and because one complements the other. This is a recipe book: I love recipes, which remain my passion and are a source of inspiration for me.
Because of them, I started writing short stories and dealing with food culture, as our identity is closely tied to the land where we are born and live and to the gestures of care that the kitchen brings to the table. In my new blog, you’ll find all this without annoying ads, it’s still called La Regina del focolare and you can find it here:
https://www.lareginadelfocolare.itWhy are there only two eggs for 400 grams of flour?
That’s a good question. Because I am Genoese, and here in Liguria, we knead with fewer eggs and help ourselves with a little water. Sometimes white wine. Fresh pasta is lighter and more digestible. If you prefer, add 2 more eggs and eliminate the water.
