Needle point pasta in light blue cheese sauce

Ingredients

THE DOUGH:
• 1 1/2 cup Italian tip 00 flour (mine had around 10~11% protein)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 5 tbsp water
THE SAUCE:
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese
• 1/4 cup mild and creamy blue cheese (ex: gorgonzola)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• More grated pecorino romano and chili flakes to serve

Instructions

1. TO MAKE THE PASTA-DOUGH: Mix tip 00 flour and salt in a large bowl, then add the egg yolks and 5 tbsp of water. Stir the ingredients together and work it into a shaggy dough, then transfer to a working surface and knead vigorously for 5 min. By now, the dough should be very smooth, silky and supple, soft to the touch but not sticky (it should feel like a play-dough). If the dough is quite sticky, knead in more flour. If the dough feels hard and the surface still has folds and cracks, that means the dough is too dry. Add more water by wetting your hands, then work the additional moisture into the dough until it feels right. Wrap the dough with plastic-wrap and let rest for 30 min.
2. Tear off tiny little nubs of dough, no more than 1/4 tsp each, until you have about 20~24 nubs to work with. Then roll each nub vigorously in between your palm (each should take only a few seconds), until it's short and stubby shaped with pointy ends (see the photo). Drop the pasta into a small pile of flour on the side of the counter, then repeat with the rest of the nubs. This will get pretty easy once you get the hang of it, especially if you have an assembly line going (one person tearing the nubs and one person rolling).
3. Every once in a while, toss the pasta with flours to prevent sticking, but do not to curl them up in a messy pile. Arrange them in a single direction (like in the photo) so they retain their shapes. Repeat until you finish with the entire dough.
4. TO COOK THE PASTA: Remove the rinds from the blue cheese and cut into small cubes. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook olive oil, minced garlic and freshly ground black pepper until fragrant, then turn off the heat and set aside.
5. Bring a large pot of water with a good pinch of salt to boil, then cook the needle-point pasta just until they float to the surface of the water. We want to undercook the pasta and let them finish cooking in the sauce. Now transfer the pasta into the skillet with a slotted spoon, then return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the cubed blue cheese and grated pecorino romano cheese, and a couple tbsp of the pasta-cooking water. Bring the content to a simmer and swirl the skillet until the blue cheese has melted, and the sauce becomes thick and creamy.
6. Serve immediately with chopped chives, more pecorino romano and a few flickers of chili flakes.

Notes