Recipe for Buckwheat ‘Pappardelle’ by William Ledeuil

An iconic dish in Italy, pasta is also very present in Japanese cuisine. This was all it took for William Ledeuil to place it at the heart of his repertoire. In his book Les pâtes autrement (‘Pasta Done Differently’), he devises over 80 pasta recipes and injects a twist using flavours with a particularly Asian influence like ginger, wasabi, coconut milk, and Thai basil.

In this recipe, William Ledeuil uses buckwheat flour, used in Japan for soba, and makes pappardelle, a large, broad type of Italian pasta. There is also a nod to Japan in the kombu seaweed, grown mainly on the northern island of Hokkaido. The ponzu sauce, composed of a base of Japanese citrus fruits like yuzu and kabosu, is used for the vinaigrette along with citron, and adds the finishing touch to this recipe that acts as a bridge between Italy and Japan.

Serves 4

Ingredients

320 g buckwheat pappardelle

100 ml rice vinegar

80 g caster sugar

100 ml water

1 leaf kombu seaweed

½ red onion

20 g aosa seaweed

120 ml tosazu sauce

3 spring-onion stalks

½ citron

4 tbsp ponzu sauce

4 tbsp olive oil

Method

Over a medium heat, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil in a cooking receptacle with the kombu seaweed. Peel the red onion and cut it into petals; place them in the marinade with the kombu seaweed. Leave to cool.

Allow to marinate and rehydrate the aosa seaweed in 60 ml tosazu sauce.

Slice the spring onions.

Cut fine shavings from the citron.

Make the vinaigrette using 4 tbsp rice vinegar marinade, 4 tbsp ponzu sauce, 60 ml tosazu sauce, 4 tbsp olive oil, and 2 tbsp sesame oil. Mix well.

Finely chop the kombu seaweed marinated in the vinegar.

Cook the pappardelle al dente, for around two minutes, in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain and season in a large salad bowl with the vinaigrette.

Serve in shallow bowls or in a basket for soba.

Divide up the aosa seaweed, chopped kombu seaweed, shiroita kombu leaves, marinated red onions, and citron shavings.

Sprinkle with the chopped spring onion.

Serve with the vinaigrette.

Les pâtes autrement (‘Pasta Done Differently’) (2016), a recipe book by William Ledeuil, is published by Editions de La Martinière (not currently available in English).

William Ledeuil is a Michelin-starred French chef who graduated from the École Supérieure de Cuisine Française Ferrandi. After training with various Michelin-starred chefs like Alain Dutournier and Guy Savoy, he collaborated with the latter for over ten years before opening his first restaurant. Thus, in 2001, he launched Ze Kitchen Galerie, and went on to receive a Michelin star in 2008. In 2009, William Ledeuil opened his second establishment, Kitchen Galerie Bis. The following year, he was named Chef of the Year by Gault&Millau. In 2017, he opened his third restaurant dedicated to pasta, Kitchen Ter(re).