French Onion & Cured Egg Yolk Gigli

The most rich, decadent, creamy bowl of pasta you never knew you needed.

20 minutes prep

40 minutes cook

Serves 4

Nell Carter

Ingredients

300ggigli pasta

4large yellow onions, thinly sliced

25gbutter

1 tbspolive oil

1small garlic clove, grated

tspsugar

60mlwhite wine (or dry vermouth)

100mlvegetable or chicken stock

1 tspDijon mustard

80gTaleggio, rind removed, cut into cubes

25gParmesan, finely grated

100gcooked chestnuts, roughly chopped

thyme, for garnishing

crispy shallots, for garnishing

Cured egg yolks

4 egg yolks

fine sea salt

It's letter Y of Alphabetti and we're letting a cured egg yolk do a lot of the lifting here. This is a sort of French onion soup-pasta hybrid, combining slow-cooked sweet jammy onions with creamy Taleggio cheese. The star of the show? A rich, salty cured egg yolk. Finished with crispy shallots, this one hits on every level.

Method

Prepare your cured yolks a few days in advance. Line a shallow container with 1cm of fine salt. Using the back of a teaspoon, make 4 yolk-sized divots in the salt. Separate 4 yolks from their whites, then place the yolks carefully in the divots, ensuring they don’t break. Add more fine salt on top until the yolks are fully covered, then lightly press down to compact the salt. Place in the fridge and leave for around 4 days. When ready to use, remove from salt and rinse to remove excess. You may want to place them in the freezer for half an hour so that they’re firm enough to grate.

Heat butter + olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add onions, a pinch of salt, and sugar. Cook 30–40 minutes, stirring often, until soft, deep golden, and jammy. Add garlic in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Stir in the chopped chestnuts and cook for 2–3 minutes. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce by half. Add stock and Dijon mustard; simmer until thick and glossy.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook gigli until al dente, reserving ~150ml pasta water before draining.

Reduce heat under onions. Stir in Taleggio until melted and smooth, then add Parmesan and toss to combine, adjusting consistency with pasta water to make a silky sauce. Season with black pepper.

Toss the drained gigli in the onion-chestnut-cheese sauce, coating evenly. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Divide pasta between warm bowls. Generously grate cured egg yolk over the top. Scatter over thyme leaves, and crispy shallots (if using).

Finish with extra extra black pepper and serve immediately.