Courtesy Brad Briske, chef at La Balena, Carmel-by-the-Sea
Serves 44 ounces high performer pasta flour 4 ounces semolina 1 farm egg 1–2 bunches nettles 2 ounces nettle water from blanched, strained nettles* Leeks Garlic Cream Vegetable stock Thyme Porcini oil Roman-style breadcrumbs toasted with Meyer lemon**To make pasta: In a bowl, sift and whisk together flour and semolina. Make a well in the middle. Add the egg and nettle water to the well. Bring together with a wooden spoon, adding a little more nettle water if needed to incorporate all the flour, but the dough should not feel wet or tacky. Knead the dough; it should have an elastic property. Wrap with plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.
Roll out the pasta with a rolling pin or even a wine bottle, but a store-bought pasta roller is by far the fastest. We use an attachment for the KitchenAid mixer at La Balena to get the dough pretty thin, but not to the thinnest setting. Dust a wood surface with semolina and roll, cut and fold the dough into 9-inch-by-4- inch rectangles. Dust with semolina and fold the rectangles again so you can slice 1⁄4-inch ribbons. You should end up with long, thin ribbons of pasta in the style of tagliatelle.
To make sauce: Slice leeks into 1⁄4-inch rounds. Sweat in olive oil until nice and soft but not colored. When the leeks are nice and buttery, add sliced garlic. Cook 1–2 more minutes. Add cream and reduce by half. Add vegetable stock to thin out the sauce. This is how you make a light cream sauce that actually has flavor without killing your stomach. Add blanched chopped nettles and simmer together 10 more minutes. Finish with chopped thyme and any remaining nettle liquid.
To assemble: In heavily salted boiling water, cook the pasta until it’s perfect. This happens fast, but not as fast as most people think. Toss with nettle cream sauce. Cook one more minute to finish the pasta in the sauce, then plate.
Garnish with porcini oil and Roman-style breadcrumbs toasted with Meyer lemon.
*See soup recipe on p. 22 for notes on blanching the nettles ** To make breadcrumbs: Pulse day-old bread in a food processor until it resembles crumbs. Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry pulsed bread until golden. Add a little more oil as well as garlic and Meyer lemon zest. Finish in oven until slightly more golden brown and crisp.
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