Farfalle With Fonduta, Walnuts & Black Pepper From Clare de Boer, Jess Shadbolt & Annie Shi
Supersize your farfalle! We like them large to mop up this rich, cheesy sauce. This recipe for “Action-Women Bow Ties” is for Angeles, Sade, Maya, and Alissa—the line cooks who first made them. You can make the farfalle with our classic Fonduta, but we like the addition of tangy Gorgonzola for this pasta. When it’s time to add the Parmesan, whisk in 1½ cups crumbled Gorgonzola as well.
Photo by Matt Russell
INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 servings
1½ cups roughly chopped walnuts
Salt
Olive oil
21 ounces (1 batch) fresh farfalle, dried overnight, or 16 ounces dried farfalle (recipe below)
3 cups fonduta, made with the addition of 1½ cups
crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (recipe below)
Freshly ground black pepper
A small piece of Parmesan cheese for grating
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the walnuts in a small bowl and season them with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil, about ½ tablespoon. Toss and spread the nuts out on a small baking sheet. Toast the nuts in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, then give the sheet a shake. Continue toasting the walnuts until they are golden brown and aromatic, 5 to 7 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. The water should taste highly seasoned (not seawater salty, but flavorful). Add the pasta, stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick together. As soon as you’ve dropped the pasta into the pot, set a wide pan over low heat. Add the Gorgonzola fonduta, along with a generous grinding of pepper, and warm the sauce over low heat. Once the pasta is just shy of al dente, after about 3 minutes, use a slotted spoon to transfer the bow ties to the pan with the fonduta, add a cup of the hot pasta water (just scoop it from the pot), and swirl until the sauce is silky and loose. Keep the pot of pasta water hot.
Increase the heat to medium-high and toss everything together, adding a smidge more of the reserved pasta water to loosen as necessary. After a minute or less, the pasta should be cooked al dente and well coated and the sauce should look glossy. Turn off the heat and crumble over the walnuts, rubbing them between your fingers as you do so. Finish the pasta with a pinch of pepper, a grating of Parmesan, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Fonduta
INGREDIENTS
Makes 3 cups
½ garlic clove
Salt
1 cup crème fraîche
1 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1½ cups grated Parmesan cheese
METHOD
Using the side of a chef’s knife, smush the garlic with a pinch of salt on a cutting board to form a paste. Transfer to a medium heatproof bowl and whisk in the crème fraîche, cream, and yolks.
Set up a bain-marie by filling a medium pot with 4 inches of water. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium. Place the bowl with the egg mixture over the pot, making sure the bottom does not touch the water. As the mixture warms, whisk it constantly, taking care that the bottom doesn’t scorch and the eggs don’t overheat. Every now and then, scrape down the bowl’s sides. If wisps of steam escape the bowl, or if things look at all granular, remove the fonduta from the heat and stir to cool; once the temperature settles, set the fonduta back over the pot of water and continue on. After about 20 minutes, the fonduta should be a soft yellow color and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the Parmesan. Once the cheese melts, season with salt to taste. Ideally, use immediately, or fonduta holds in a warm bain-marie for up to an hour. Do not reheat over high heat or it may curdle.
Fresh Farfalle
INGREDIENTS
Makes about 21 ounces, enough for 6 servings
1½ cups (260 grams) semolina flour, plus more for dusting
⅔ cup (100 grams) 00 flour
14 large egg yolks (250 grams)
METHOD
Pile the semolina and 00 flours into a large bowl and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and add the yolks to the well. Using a fork, slowly whisk the yolks in a circular motion to combine them. Then gradually pull in enough flour from the well’s sides to form a slurry, and continue mixing until the two are mostly combined.
Gather everything together in the bowl and knead the scraggy bits and loose flour into a more-or-less uniform mass. If the dough needs some encouragement, knead in a flick or two of cold water to bring it together.
If you are making the dough entirely by hand, move it to a work surface and knead it until smooth. After each stretch-and-pull motion, rotate the ball 45 degrees. Kneading may feel like a challenge, but after 10 or so minutes, it should come together. Stick with it!
Alternatively, if you have a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook, transfer the dough to the bowl, and knead on medium-low speed for 7 to 10 minutes.
Whether making it by hand or with a mixer, the dough is ready when a poke receives a very slow bounceback. Cover the ball with a tea towel to prevent drying out and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Covered and at room temperature, it will hold for about 1 hour.
To roll out the pasta, cut the ball into quarters. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the remaining quarters covered.
Dust a work surface lightly with semolina flour. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough just enough so it will pass through the pasta roller’s widest setting. Run the dough through the rollers, catching it as it emerges.
Reduce the width between the rollers and run the dough through the rollers again. Continue reducing the width between the rollers, one click at a time, as you roll the dough through the machine and the sheet thins and elongates, about 12 inches long. An extra dusting of semolina may be needed, either on the bench or the rollers, if things start to feel sticky.
For the final pass through the rollers, they should be on their finest setting and the pasta sheet should emerge paper-thin, 1/16 inch thick or less.
Lay the sheet out horizontally on a work surface lightly dusted with semolina. Starting at the far left end, fold about 5 inches of the pasta sheet over itself. Continue flip-flopping 5-inch folds down the sheet until you reach the right end of the sheet.
Once the pasta sheet is all folded up, run the “booklet” through the pasta rollers to start the rolling process all over again. The first pass should be through a setting that is wide enough that the booklet is just lightly compressed. Make sure to run the dough through the rollers so a side showing the folds leads the way; changing the feed’s direction after each roll will build up the gluten and give the dough a sturdy texture. Continue reducing the width between the rollers and running the dough through them. Once the sheet is rolled and elongated, lay it out and fold it as before.
Repeat the roll and fold two more times, but for the final pass, stop when the sheet of dough is approximately ⅛ inch thick. Transfer the first sheet to a dusted baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
We like our farfalle large so that each bow tie is easier to make and provides a lot of surface area for the sauce. These ones are larger than what you would buy in a shop. Unlike most fresh pastas, these do best when left to dry for at least 6 hours, or overnight, before cooking.
Lay one pasta sheet out on a work surface lightly dusted with semolina flour.
With a frilled pasta wheel or a sharp knife, cut the strip into 2½-inch squares. Separate them slightly, to afford some room for maneuvering. Fill a spray bottle with cool water (or use a damp pastry brush) and lightly mist (or dampen) the face of each square.
To form the bow ties, with your thumb and forefinger, accordion-fold the square and pinch the center together. Firmly pinch this point shut to set the shape. If the pasta has dried out and does not stick properly, lightly remist it and try again. Place the bow tie on a semolina-dusted tray and repeat, forming more bow ties with the remaining squares. Then repeat the process with the remaining pasta sheets.
Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 6 hours. These will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.
From The King Cookbook by Clare de Boer, Jess Shadbolt & Annie Shi, out Nov. 4th, 2025. Reprinted by permission of Flatiron Books.
