Garganelli all’uovo
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Garganelli are a type of egg-based pasta that hail from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. They are a short “tube” that is formed by rolling a square of pasta dough into a cylinder over a wooden board to create ridges. While similar in shape to penne, garganelli are special and identifiable due to the clearly visible flap or fold that remains on one corner.
Our go-to dough for impression pasta such as garganelli includes both 00 flour (or all-purpose flour in a pinch) and semolina flour with eggs. We find the addition of semolina flour adds the perfect toothiness and texture that allows any design you impart to remain beautifully after it is boiled. If you do not have semolina flour on hand, a dough you create from 00/all-purpose flour and eggs will work just fine, such as in the recipe here: Basic Fresh Egg Pasta Dough.
Special equipment needed:
Garganelli board
Hand crank pasta machine (or a rolling pin if you have the patience, skill, and elbow grease!)
Knife or tagliapasta (pastry/pasta wheel)
Optional: Stand mixer with dough hook
Ingredients: (Yield: ~4 servings)
200g 00 flour (or all-purpose flour)
175g semolina flour
4 eggs
Method:
On a large, clean work surface add the 00 flour and semolina flour to form a mound. In the middle of the mound, use your fingertips or the bottom side of a bowl to carve out a well, leaving just a little bit of flour on the bottom, so it looks like a crater. Add the eggs to the center of the well. Using a fork or your hand, begin whisking the eggs and mixing from the center, slowly incorporating small amounts of flour from the sides of the well, making sure to not break the outer walls! Once the eggs and flour have mostly incorporated into gooey paste, continue working in all the flour until it becomes a solid ball.
This is where the hard work begins! Put on some of your favorite music and begin kneading. If any bits of dough break off, knead them back into the dough ball with your hands. Do not panic if the dough feels dry at first. With continued kneading, the ingredients spread throughout, which will hydrate your dough. You will notice how the texture changes with continued work. This is the point where an optional stand mixer with a dough hook can be utilized - let run on a low setting for about 10 minutes.
If you’re working by hand, keep going! Knead vigorously for around 10 minutes until the dough is completely smooth and homogenous. As you are working, if the dough feels dry, add a couple drops of water. As you are working, if the dough feels wet, add a slight sprinkle of flour. You cannot over-knead the dough, so don’t be afraid to keep working. You can, however, under-knead it, which will affect the overall quality and texture of your pasta.
After about 10 minutes, once the dough is silky smooth, if you press your fingertip into the dough, the fingerprint should quickly rise back up. At this point, wrap in plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes. After the rest time, your dough will be ready to roll out and mold into the desired shape (see below for detailed instructions on forming the garganelli).
To shape:
After the dough has rested for at least 30 minutes, unwrap it, and cut the dough ball into 4 quarters. As you work with one quarter of the dough, keep the rest wrapped securely in plastic to prevent it from drying out.
If using a pasta machine, flatten out the quarter of dough and roll it through the widest setting of the machine. Adjust the setting to the second-widest, and roll the dough through it again. Don’t jump from a wide setting to a very narrow setting, because you do not want to stress or over-stretch the dough. Next, take your sheet of dough and fold one of the shorter rounded edges over onto itself to crate a flat edge. Roll it back through the machine. Next, fold the other rounded edge over itself and roll it back through. The goal here is to create a flat piece of dough that resembles a rectangle more than a long oval (but this process will not be perfect and that is okay! It will just make the cutting easier later). Continue rolling your dough through a narrower setting each time until you reach the desired thickness –most likely the second- or third-to-last setting on your machine. On my Marcato Atlas 150 machine, I stop at setting “6” or “7” when I make garganelli.
Once the dough is rolled out flat, use a pastry/pasta wheel or a knife to cut the dough into squares somewhere between 1 inch and 1 1/2 inches wide. Take a single square and wrap it diagonally around the wooden rod. Place the wooden rod on your garganelli board and while applying gentle pressure, roll it across to form ridges and seal the edge.
Gently remove the formed garganelli from the rod and place on a pasta rack, lined baking sheet, or a cutting board. Repeat the processes above until all the dough is turned into beautiful garganelli.
To Cook:
Generously salt a pot of water once it reaches a rolling boil. Add the garganelli and let cook for 2-4 minutes until al dente. Strain and serve with your favorite sauce. Buon appetito!
