Istarski Fuži - Traditional Croatian pasta

Istria is the largest Croatian peninsula at the far north-west of the Croatian coast. This little region bursts with flavors and some of the most magnificent dishes of Croatian cuisine. In this region you will notice a highly Italian influence in everyday life and cuisine (Italians are the largest minority group in Istria).  
One of the signature dishes of Istria are Fuži. Simple and yet amazing pasta which is served with a variety of sauces, meat and vegetable dishes.

Time needed: about 1 hour
Dough preparation and pasta making: about 1 hour
Cooking time about 2-3 minutes

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Ingredients
100 g of all purpose flour (2/3 cups)
1 medium sized egg (about 50-60 g)

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​Method
1.  Put your flour into a bowl or on a clean work surface. Make a little well in the middle of the flour.
2. Wisk your egg with a fork and add it to the flour well. 
3. Keep mixing the egg with the fork slowly adding the flour from the sides.
4. When the mix gets to hard to mix with a fork continue kneading the dough with your hands until all the flour is incorporated. Keep kneading for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Form a ball of your dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it for 10-15 minutes on room temperature to rest. 

6. You can roll out the pasta with a rolling pin or with a pasta machine. Take your dough out of plastic wrap and place it onto a floured surface. Flatten it out with your palm. 
7. Flour your dough from both sides and start rolling it out.
8. If you are using the pasta machine make sure to start rolling at the thickest setting. Keep repeating the rolling process changing the machine setting to a thinner one for every round. 
9. Flour your pasta sheet and fold it into quarters. 
10. Using a sharp knife cut the pasta sheet into small squares - approx. 4x4cm (1.5x1.5inches)

11. Using a knitting needle (that would be the traditional tool), or a chopstick roll your pasta squares into the typical Fuži shape. You can use some water to glue the end of your pasta to the roll.   

12. Keep rolling until all the pasta squares have turned into lovely Fuži.
13. Lightly flour your finished pasta and leave it on room temperature to dry out a little.

Cooking your Fuži
​14. Put a large pot of water onto your stove and bring it to a boil.
15. Add salt (the Italians say the water should be as salty as the sea! and who am I to ague with Italians about the pasta!?) :-)
16. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the water
17. Add your pasta to the boiling water and give it a gentle stir. 
18. Boil it for about 2 to 3 minutes and strain it. 
19. Serve the Fuži with a sauce or topping of your choice

​Have a bite!

Tips:
Rolling out your dough
If you are making more than 500 g of pasta (more than 300 g of flour used in the recipe) you should divide the dough into smaller pieces. While you are rolling out one piece of your dough, keep the rest covered with plastic wrap. 

Cooking your pasta
Fresh pasta cooks much faster than the dry pasta that we usually buy in the supermarket, so be careful with it. It only takes couple of minutes for your fresh pasta to be cooked. 

Serving Fuži
Fuži are delicious with any kind of topping of sauce. In Istria they are very often served with truffles, creamy sauces, asparagus, beef, chicken,...