P
Italian · Langhe, Piedmont
Tajarin al Sugo d'Arrosto — Fine Egg Pasta with Roast Meat Jus
Tajarin (Piedmontese for taglierini — the finest cut egg pasta) are the defining pasta of the Langhe and Monferrato hills — made with an extraordinary proportion of egg yolks (20-40 yolks per kilogram of flour depending on the producer), no whole eggs, and no water, producing a pasta of brilliant golden colour and extreme richness that cooks in 2-3 minutes and has a silkiness that standard pasta cannot approach. The definitive sauce is sugo d'arrosto — the pan drippings and scrapings from a Sunday roast (beef, veal, or rabbit) deglazed and slightly enriched: the concentrated Maillard crust dissolved into the roast fat, creating a sauce that is simultaneously simple and extraordinarily complex.
I
The Market List
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For the tajarin dough
1 kg
00 flour
Your own market
30 (yolks)
egg yolks
yolks only — no whole eggs, no water; 20 yolks per kg for standard tajarin, up to 40 for exceptional richness and colour
Your own market
For the sugo d'arrosto
1 glass (approx. 150 ml)
dry white wine
added to the hot roasting pan after the roast is removed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 ml
light broth
beef, veal, or chicken; used to deglaze alongside the wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
30 g
cold unsalted butter
cut into small pieces; for mounting the finished sugo
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Mound the flour on a work surface and make a wide well. Add all the egg yolks to the well. Work the yolks into the flour gradually from the inner edge, incorporating until a rough mass forms. The dough will be very stiff from the first minute — this is correct. Knead with sustained pressure for a minimum of 15 minutes. The dough is ready when the surface is perfectly smooth and no longer tears under a firm thumb.
2
Wrap the dough tightly and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. It will relax perceptibly; a finger pressed into the surface should leave an impression that holds without springing back.
3
Divide the dough into manageable portions. Pass each through a pasta machine, progressing through every setting to the finest. The sheet at the final setting should be almost translucent — hold it to the light and a hand placed behind it should be visible through the dough. This is where the dish lives or dies: a sheet rolled any thicker will produce a pasta too coarse to carry the sugo with the required delicacy.
4
Lay the sheets on a clean cloth and dry for 15 minutes. The surface should feel dry to the touch but the sheet must remain pliable; a sheet that cracks when folded has dried too long.
5
Roll each sheet loosely into a cylinder. With a sharp knife, slice straight across into ribbons of 2 mm. Unravel the ribbons immediately onto the cloth and separate gently. Each strand should be even in width and fine enough to curl loosely under its own weight.
6
To make the sugo d'arrosto: with the roast removed and the pan still hot over the heat, pour in the white wine. Scrape every browned bit from the base of the pan with a wooden spoon — the crust dissolving into the liquid is the sugo's flavour. Add the broth. Reduce over moderate heat until the liquid reaches a lightly syrupy consistency that coats the spoon in a thin, glossy film.
7
Remove the pan from the heat. Add the cold butter in pieces, swirling the pan continuously until fully incorporated. The sugo should be glossy, lightly thickened, and hold together as a unified sauce rather than separating into fat and liquid.
8
Cook the tajarin in abundant well-salted boiling water for 2–3 minutes. Drain, leaving a little cooking water clinging to the strands. Dress immediately with the sugo, tossing gently. Each ribbon should carry a thin, even veil of sauce — no pooling, no dryness. Serve at once.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — 40 egg yolks per kilogram of 00 flour; yolks from hens kept on maize-rich feed for maximum colour; sugo from a slow-roasted whole piece of Fassona Piemontese beef or veal, deglazed and reduced in the copper roasting pan; finished with white truffle shaved tableside.
02
Estate — 30 egg yolks per kilogram; good free-range yolks of deep colour; sugo from a bone-in veal or rabbit roast with good pan deposits; cold cultured butter for mounting.
03
Market — 20 egg yolks per kilogram; standard free-range eggs; sugo from any well-coloured Sunday roast — beef, veal, or rabbit — with careful deglazing; unsalted butter.
04
House — High-quality dried Langhe tajarin (low-temperature dried, yolk-only formula) in place of fresh; sugo made from the drippings of any roast with good Maillard development; standard unsalted butter.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. After 15 minutes of kneading, the dough surface is perfectly smooth and does not tear when a thumb is pressed firmly across it.
◇Touch. After resting, a finger pressed into the wrapped dough leaves an impression that holds without springing back.
◇Sight. The rolled sheet at the finest setting is almost translucent; a hand held behind it is visible through the dough.
◇Touch. The dried sheet surface feels dry but the sheet remains fully pliable and does not crack when folded.
◇Sight. The reduced sugo coats the back of a spoon in a thin, glossy film and does not separate into fat and liquid after the butter is mounted.
◇Sight. Dressed tajarin in the bowl show an even, thin veil of sugo on every strand — no pooling at the base, no dry ribbons at the surface.
◇Where it lives or dies. The pasta sheet must be rolled to near-translucency at the finest machine setting; any greater thickness produces a strand too coarse to receive the sugo with the required delicacy, and the dish is lost.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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