Buckwheat Pasta

Directions

1. 1
   Food-processor mixing recommended, following the directions on page 160.
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   Pappardelle with Long-Cooking Savoy Cabbage, Bacon, and Mushroom Sauce (page 138)a wonderful winter pasta.
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   A tomato-based sauce, such as Mushroom Ragu (page 141) or Slow-Cooked Summer Tomato and Eggplant Sauce (page 259).
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   Do not smother the pasta with too much sauce.
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   A few spoonfuls of chopped walnuts lend marvelous texture and flavor to buckwheat pasta.
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   Use about 1/3 cup of finely chopped walnuts for 1 pound of pasta; see below, for details on incorporating nuts into dough.
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   Hand-cut lacce.
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   Dress with Butter, Fresh Sage, and Walnut Sauce (page 120).
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   For convenience, chop up the walnuts for the sauce when youre processing the nuts for the dough, but leave them larger, in 1/8- to-1/4-inch nuggets.
10. 10
    Ground nuts can be incorporated into pasta doughs with great success.
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    Try the ones I give herewalnuts in buckwheat dough, and hazelnuts in ceci doughand experiment with other combinations, using almonds and pecans too.
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    Follow these guidelines whenever you are adding nuts:
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    For a 1-pound batch of dough, start with a generous 1/3 cup of whole nuts (or halves) to get 1/4 to 1/3 cup of ground nuts.
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    First toast whole nuts lightly in a dry pan to bring out flavor.
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    After they have cooled, pulse them in a food processor into tiny bits, smaller than 1/8 inch.
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    This will take only 1 or 2 secondsdont grind them into a powder.
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    Pick out any remaining larger nut pieces; crush them smalleror eat them.
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    Mix the dough by hand or food processor, as usual.
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    When you turn it out for final kneading, spread the dough into a small rectangle and sprinkle the nut bits on top.
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    Fold the dough over the nuts, and knead as you would normally, distributing the nuts well, until it is smooth and shiny; then let it rest.
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    To roll a dough with nuts using a pasta machine: Divide the dough in quarters and roll each piece slowly, at the widest setting, twelve times, folding and turning between rolls.
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    Then roll through narrower machine settings.
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    If you see any nut pieces that are making the dough tear, remove them.
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    If a strip does tear, fold it over and reroll at a wider setting to repair it.
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    Roll the dough as thin as possible (it will never be as thin as plain dough, however).
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    Cut any dough with nuts by hand, crosswise, into lacce, or shoestrings (page 168).
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    Or fold the strips and cut lengthwise to form pappardelle, as shown in the photos on page 166.