My Kitchen Rules: The recipe for Simone and Viviana’s tagliatelle ragù di polpo

Simone and Viviana’s recipe for tagliatelle ragù di polpo

Prep time: 1 hour 30 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• Finely chopped parsley, to garnish
• Olive oil, to drizzle

Ragu di Polpo

• 1kg octopus tentacles
• 2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes (we used the Mutti brand)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 long red chili, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 180ml dry white wine
• 2 litres fish stock
• 100g pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/2 cup drained baby capers
• Light olive oil, for shallow frying

Tagliatelle

• 250g 00 flour
• 10 egg yolks

Method

1 To make the ragu, cook the octopus in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Drain. Cut into 2cm pieces.

2 Blend or process the tomatoes to form a coarse puree.

3 Heat oil in a large saucepan or stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft, but not coloured. Stir in garlic, chilli and sugar. Add octopus. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil. Simmer, for about 1-1 ½ hours or until octopus is tender and sauce has thickened. Season. Stir in olives.

4 Meanwhile, to make pasta, sift flour onto a clean work bench. Make a well in the centre. Add egg yolks and whisk lightly. Gradually incorporate flour into centre, adding a little water if necessary, to form a soft pliable dough. Dough is correct consistency if your thumb comes back clean when pushed into it.

5 Knead dough on a lightly floured bench for about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic (it will lose it’s rough, floury texture). Stand, covered, for 20 minutes to rest. Divide into quarters. Pass quarters through a pasta machine on the widest setting, dusting dough with flour between rolls, increasing settings until about 2mm thick. Pass pasta sheets through a tagliatelle cutter. Place tagliatelle on a lightly floured tray (or hang) for 15 minutes, to dry a little before cooking.

6 Shallow fry capers until crisp. Drain on paper towel.

7 Cook tagliatelle in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to saucepan. Add a little of the sauce from the ragu and toss to coat.

8 Divide tagliatelle among serving bowls. Top with ragu and sprinkle with capers and parsley. Drizzle with olive oil.

Tip

Watch and stir the sauce occasionally while it simmers. If it reduces too quickly, partially cover with a lid.