Franco & Alessandras corzetti with fresh marjoram dressing

Franco is an acclaimed wood sculptor, with a sideline in making stamps for coin-shaped pasta called corze i.

SERVES 6

FOR THE PASTA

600g (1lb 7oz/3 cups) 0 flour or plain flour (it doesn’t need to be the more finely ground 00 flour)

5 egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg, beaten about 150ml (5 fl oz/scant 2/ cup) dry 3 white wine (enough to bring the dough together)

FOR THE DRESSING

100ml (3 fl oz/scant cup) Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil or other grassy- tasting olive oil

120g (4oz) Italian pine nuts

25g (1oz) fresh marjoram leaves

2 garlic cloves

First, make the pasta. Tip the !our onto a board or into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the beaten egg yolks plus whole egg. Use a fork to mix the !our into the eggs and gradually pour in the wine. Bring the dough together. Knead until it is smooth and silky, around 10 minutes.

Cover the dough with a tea towel and leave it to rest for at least 15 minutes. Keeping the board, pin and dough well !oured, roll out the dough until it is about the same thickness as a foil-wrapped chocolate coin (3mm).

If you have a stamp, use the cup end of the cylinder block to stamp out the circles in the dough with a twisting motion. Place the disc on the engraved end of the stamp block and press down with the handle. The result will be a double-sided embossed corze"o. If you don’t have a stamp, use a small glass or cookie cu"er.

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil, add a teaspoon of salt, return to a boil and shovel in the pasta. Cook for 4 minutes. Drain. Warm the oil in a small pan and add the pine nuts, marjoram and garlic. Leave them to bathe in gentle bubbles for 4 minutes. You don’t want the pine nuts to burn, but they can turn a li"le golden. Remove the garlic and pour the dressing over the pasta. Eat immediately.