Hand Rolled Corn Flour Pasta with Golden American Caviar, Lemon & Basil (Show #418)

Recipe By: ©2000 eric villegas

Serving Size: 2 dinner or 4 appetizer portions

Ingredients:

4 ounces corn flour, organic, preferably from Michigan
6 ounces all purpose unbleached flour, organic, preferably from Michigan
3 whole large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 ounce evcp olive oil
1/4 cup cornmeal, for dusting the cut pasta
4-5 quarts water
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted "sweet" butter
1/2 cup sour cream
4-6 ounces golden american caviar, or similar
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh

Directions:

By hand:

Mix and mound the two flours and make a well in the center. Place the eggs and evcp olive oil in the well and, with a fork, slowly begin to beat them. When the eggs are well beaten, start incorporating the flour little by little until the eggs are no longer runny. Bring the mixture together with your hands (leave a tablespoon or two of the flour off to one side — depending on the size of your eggs and the humidity you may not need all the flour). The dough should be on the dry side and not sticking to your fingers. If it is sticky add the remaining flour little by little.

On a clean work surface begin to knead the dough: Press on the dough with the palms of your hands and push away from you. Pull it back or fold it and turn the dough clockwise. Knead for about 8 minutes or until the dough is very smooth and silky.

Wrap the finished dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for at least one hour.

Cut the dough into 4 pieces and flatten each with the palm of your hand. With either a manual pasta machine or an electric one, start with the widest opening and run each piece of dough through the rollers. Close the opening by one notch and repeat in the same order of running each sheet through the machine. Keep closing the opening by one notch
and running the sheets through in the same order until you are down to the last 2 or 3 notches, depending on your machine. FInally using the cutters, cut the pasta into desired width. Lightly dust the cut pasta with cornmeal to help prevent sticking and place on cookie sheets under clean kitchen towels to avoid drying.

Heat the butter in a medium sized saute pan over medium-low heat until melted. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, basil and 1 ounce of the caviar. Stir to combine and set aside.

Add the salt to the water and bring to a rapid boil. Gently add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to "al dente" for about 1 minute. Drain the cooked pasta (reserve a bit of the cooking water) and add to the saute pan and toss well with the caviar cream. Season to taste with the salt (be careful with the salt, depending on the brand of caviar you are using the salt intensity varies widely) and pepper.

Portion the finished pasta on serving dishes and top each evenly with a bit of sour cream and the remainder of the caviar.

Serve immediately.