Squid Ink Tagliolini with Spicy Crab and Chilli

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, and squid ink until the liquid is completely uniform, glossy, and pitch black.

Mound the tipo 00 flour onto a clean cutting board, create a wide deep well in the center, and pour in the whisked squid ink egg mixture, 5 ml of olive oil, and 3 g of fine sea salt.

Using a fork, gently beat the inner liquid while gradually pulling small amounts of flour from the inner perimeter of the well until a thick, shaggy dough mass forms.

Bring the mass together with your hands and knead firmly against the cutting board for 10 minutes until the dough turns satiny, pliable, and uniform in color.

Wrap the kneaded dough tightly in plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature (20°C to 22°C / 68°F to 72°F) for 30 minutes to relax the gluten matrix.

Unwrap the rested dough and divide it into 4 equal quarters using a bench scraper, wrapping the unused portions in plastic wrap to avoid drying out.

Flatten one dough portion with your hands, feed it through a pasta machine at the widest roller setting, fold the sheet into thirds like a business letter, and pass it through again at the widest setting.

Continue passing the sheet through progressively narrower settings on the pasta machine without folding until the dough reaches approximately 1.5 mm thickness (typically setting 6).

Run the rolled sheet through the tagliolini cutter attachment on the pasta machine, catch the cut ribbons gently, dust them with a light coating of flour, and coil into loose nests on the cutting board.

Repeat the rolling, thinning, and cutting process with the remaining 3 dough portions to produce 4 distinct nests of squid ink tagliolini.

Fill a large stockpot with 4000 ml of water, add 30 g of coarse salt, and bring to a rapid rolling boil over high heat at 100°C (212°F).

Heat 45 ml of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat at 150°C (302°F), then add sliced garlic and fresh red chilli, cooking gently for 2 minutes until aromatic and tender without browning.

Add the Calabrian chilli paste and halved cherry tomatoes to the skillet, cooking over medium heat for 3 minutes until tomatoes burst slightly and release their red juices.

Pour the dry white wine into the skillet to deglaze the surface, scrape up any pan residue, and simmer rapidly for 2 minutes until the liquid reduces by half.

Drop the fresh squid ink tagliolini into the boiling water in the large stockpot and boil for 90 seconds until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, gently fold the picked lump crabmeat, fine sea salt, and black pepper into the simmering skillet sauce, heating for 2 minutes until the crab flesh is fully opaque and pearly white, verifying an internal temperature of at least 63°C (145°F) with a food thermometer.

Use tongs to lift the cooked tagliolini directly from the boiling water into the skillet containing the warm crab sauce, bringing along approximately 80 ml of starchy pasta water.

Toss the pasta and sauce vigorously over medium heat for 1 minute until the starchy pasta water and olive oil fuse into a glossy, clingy emulsion coating every noodle strand.

Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle in the finely grated lemon zest using a microplane, drizzle 20 ml of fresh lemon juice, and fold through the chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Using tongs, swirl one quarter of the tagliolini into a high nest in the center of each warmed shallow serving bowl, then spoon remaining crabmeat, chillies, and emulsified pan juices evenly over the top.