Duck Egg Pasta...The Best Pasta Ever

The other day I decided to splurge on duck eggs on a shopping expedition to Chinatown. At $8.50 a dozen they were extravagant, but I rationalized the purchase by using them in a post, making a dessert with them, and an upcoming article I'm doing later on for Easter. I have been intrigued by duck eggs for a while as they have larger yolks and thicker shells. Duck eggs have many applications and are wonderful in rich egg based pastries. You can see in the first photo the side by side comparison between the duck egg and regular hens egg.

Being Sunday, and the weekend, Certain Someone wanted pasta. I didn't have any dried pasta in the pantry so I decided to make some with the duck eggs. He fussed as he thought it would be a big ordeal, as my previous pasta making attempts. I knew he was thinking of the tape I made for  the Master Chef Auditions, in the messy condo undergoing  repainting. and the long wait for dinner that night. I have to say that was my worst pasta even  , as I added to much liquid and was more worried about the camera, than product. It stuck all over my new Kitchen Aid pasta rollers that Certain Someone gave me  for Christmas. But I dusted myslef off, and the rollers, and tried again. Tell me a cook or chef that doesn't have a failure now ad then. That's how we achieve perfection. Substituting duck eggs for regular, I achieved a dense, rich, golden dough.

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After letting it rest, dividing it in four, it was the easily, most pliable dough to roll. I managed to whip out some rich fettuccine noodles in a fraction of the time of my previous attempts with an easy clean up.

 With Spring in the air I wanted to make  Pasta  Primavera, but he wanted MEAT!  So I threw in some meat, and tons vegetables like zucchini, various hued peppers, spices, onion and garlic in a red sauce. Certain Someone fussed about all the vegetables, but admitted it was my best handmade pasta ever.  If you can find them, I highly recommend you substitute the duck eggs for hens   next time you make and egg based pasta.

 Duck Egg Pasta 

(adapted from Kitchen Aid's Egg Pasta Recipe)

4 Duck Eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons water

3 1/2 cups All purpose four or Italian 00 flour ( the best for pasta, breads, and pizza)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

In Kitchen Aid mixer bowl  mix all ingredients with flat paddle for 30 seconds on low speed ( 2).

Switch out flat beater for dough hook and knead all ingredients for 2 minutes at same low speed.

Turn dough out and knead for 2 more minuted by hand. The dough will be very stiff.

Place in plastic , seal able bag, and let rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, This allows to gluten to relax and dough will be easier to work with.

 With a bench scraper or knife, divide the dough into four pieces.

Process with  Pasta Sheet roller.

1. Roll out piece on no setting at low speed . Fold into thirds each time and re roll until until it starts to look smooth and uniform.
2.  Take setting up to 2 and process sheet. Don't fold.
3. Take setting up to 3 and repeat on each setting until desired thickness. I processed my fettuccine up until setting 6.
4. Take the fettuccine attachment and process each thin sheet through it.  Set aside.
5. Repeat with other 3 sections.

Fresh pasta only requires a 2-5 minutes in rapidly boiling , salted water .  Drain .

Thanks all of you for the great, positive feedback I am receiving regarding Coco. I decided  to embed an issue  here on the blog for you to read. Of course, it cant compare to actual paper edition, but enjoy.