pasta by hand

humble beginnings of my pasta

I took another class from Laughing Lemon, this time "Pasta by Hand". I really enjoyed this class, especially the eating part. We made three different pasta doughs, shaped them into different shapes and ate them with different sauces. My favorite was the tortolini filled with ricotta, bärlauch, and rucola. The dough had a bit of buckwheat and whole wheat flour which made it pretty and so tasty.

The most important thing I learned was that pasta dough has to be kneaded just like bread dough to the windowpane stage. The recipes I've used before never instructed to knead this long. This made a huge difference on the texture, during both shaping and chewing. It seems obvious now - I wonder why I never knew this.

I can't wait to take the other courses, Pasta Art and Pasta Sauces.


So here's the class, all vigorously kneading our dough

 
mise en place ... initially scrappy dough


7:23mins kneading for each dough


first dough rolled out into logs then cut into bits

 
then shaped into orecchiette ("ears") - I need more practice


Jack made a brocoli rabe sauce for the orecchiette


extra delicious with crème fraîche

 
Next, pasta alla chitarra, aka guitar. This cool gadget has a 10m piano string strung across to cut the pasta.


you place the rolled dough on the chitarra and gently but swiftly roll over the wire

 
eventually the pasta is cut into perfect strips

 
aren't they lovely?


Jack whipped up a asparagus and broiled artichoke sauce


and we eat!


Next, filled pasta with the buckwheat dough

 
each gets some ricotta, bärlauch, rucola filling, then folded into half moon, then squish the ends together to get torteloni (a little too big for tortelini)

 
Jack finishes up the slow-roasted tomato and green onion sauce (my favorite!)


and we stuff more pasta into our full bellies


And of course, some dessert: brutti ma buoni "ugly but good," a very accurate desciption. Jack's recipe is a guarded secret so you'll have take the class to taste them.