fig. a: fresh tagliatelle alla AEB
The concept was as follows: the freshest, lightest, most Spring-like pasta dish of all-time. Or as close to that ideal as we could get.
Sure, we could have used high-quality dried pasta, or we could have bought some fresh pasta from a local purveyor of Italian specialty foods, but if you want your tagliatelle to be supremely fresh and delicious, you kinda have to make your own, which is what Michelle did. I’d gotten some beautiful eggs and some semola rimacinata. We had the time. After all, when you’re making pasta for two, it doesn’t take that long anyway.
Earlier in the day, we’d made a trip to Jean-Talon Market. We knew we wanted some organic Quebec asparagus for this dish, but aside from that, we were open to whatever caught our fancy.
fig. b: Springtime in a bowl
As you can see, it wasn’t hard to find inspiration. And, frankly, once we’d hit upon that asparagus-morels-fava beans trio, there was no question that the pasta had to be the freshest, finest possible. The dish demanded it.
Spring Tagliatelle
fresh tagliatelle, al dente
shaved asparagus, lightly sautéed
fresh morels, lightly sautéed
fresh fava beans, blanched and lightly sautéed
parsley leaves
freshly grated Parmesan
freshly ground black pepper
All that was needed was a crisp white and a green salad.
aj