History

Tipo 00 opened on Little Bourke Street in 2014 under chef Andreas Papadakis (ex-The Square London), Alberto Fava and Luca Sbardella, the name a reference to the finest grade of Italian pasta flour. The squid ink tagliolini, on the opening menu in 2014, became the room's defining dish: hand-rolled tagliolini coloured with cuttlefish ink, sauced minimally with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, chilli and white wine, and finished with grated bottarga and a fine zest of lemon. The plate was on most Melbourne best-pasta lists by 2016. Tipo 00 opened a Carlton sibling, and the squid ink dish remains the single most-ordered Italian pasta in the city.

Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Shellfish (squid ink, bottarga), Fish

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 1 hr 45 minDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 300g tipo 00 pasta flour
  • 3 large free-range eggs plus 1 yolk
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 2 sachets (8g) cuttlefish ink (squid ink)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil for the dough
  • Semolina flour for dusting
  • 60ml good extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 plump garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
  • 1 fresh long red chilli, finely sliced (or 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes)
  • 150ml crisp dry white wine (vermentino, pinot grigio)
  • 30g grated bottarga (cured mullet roe), plus extra to finish
  • Zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
  • Small handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • Maldon sea salt

Method

  1. Tip the flour onto a clean bench, make a well in the centre, add the eggs, yolk, salt, squid ink and olive oil; whisk the wet ingredients in the well with a fork, gradually drawing in the flour.
  2. Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand until smooth, glossy and uniformly black-purple. Wrap in cling film, rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into four. Working one piece at a time, roll through a pasta machine starting at the widest setting, folding and re-rolling at setting 1 about three times before progressing through to setting 6 or 7 (about 1mm thick).
  4. Dust the sheet with semolina and cut into 2mm-wide tagliolini either by hand with a sharp knife or through the tagliolini attachment. Toss with semolina, coil into nests on a tray.
  5. Bring a wide pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
  6. In a large frying pan, warm the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat, add the sliced garlic and chilli, cook 90 seconds until the garlic turns pale gold (not brown).
  7. Pour in the white wine, allow to bubble down by half, then add 100ml pasta water and the grated bottarga; whisk into a glossy emulsion.
  8. Drop the tagliolini into the boiling water for 90 seconds only (fresh pasta cooks fast). Lift directly into the sauce pan with tongs.
  9. Toss vigorously for 30 seconds with a generous splash more pasta water until the sauce clings and emulsifies. Off heat, fold in the parsley.
  10. Twist into tall nests on warm plates, finish each with a fine grating of bottarga, lemon zest, and a final flake of sea salt.

Tip from the editors. The pasta dough rests on the dry side because squid ink adds moisture; if it feels too stiff after 5 minutes of kneading, add half a teaspoon of water at a time. Do not let the garlic brown; it turns bitter and dulls the ink.

Where to eat squid ink tagliolini at tipo 00

Squid Ink Tagliolini at Tipo 00 in Melbourne

Tipo 00 ★ 4.7

Italian$$cbdMon-Sat 11:30-21:30

Tipo 00 is Melbourne's hardest Italian booking: handmade pasta in a 40-seat room where the lamb tortellini drives reservation lead times to six weeks.

Why locals love it: Booked 6 weeks ahead; no signage, no street presence, entry through a terrace doorway

361 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

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