I was raised to love pasta. All kinds. I have never lost my taste and when I found a email from Airbnb about a pasta making class in Milano, I jumped on it. It was a 3 hour exploration of Italian cooking and a chance to make fresh pasta. Gianfranco holds the class in his apartment and it was a very relaxing setting. This was the second of my Airbnb activities that I have engaged in and it will not be my last. Gianfrano is a “personal chef from Palermo, Sicily, and the traditional Italian and Sicilian food is my speciality. I like making genuine homemade food, pasta, street food and dessert”. He did not disappoint. Gianfranco served asiago and parmesan cheese with olives and some Italian bread while we drank some delicious white wine by Corvo. He went over the process of make the pasta and discussed the two types of meals we would eat with it.
This is an easy relaxed time with everyone taking part in the pasta making. Golden rule is 100 grams of flour and 1 egg. You want a dry dough, not sticky. When the dough is throughly mixed, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
Roll it a bit to make a flat sheet and divide it into 4 pieces, Then roll it out to fit the pasta maker. Insert at the widest opening and gradually decrease the thickness till you achieve the desired thickness of your pasta. After that we hang it to dry slightly.
Here is a link to the video of my experience.
Gianfranco our host and chef.
Pasta making machine. ( available on Amzaon $26 to $200 plus)
Gianfranco with Maria and Maria who were also in the class.
Eggplant for the pasta alla Norma.
The basic pomidoro sauce for pasta alla norma.
Pasta drying before cooking.
Buon appetito
Look for Milan activities and search for “The Secret of Italian Cuisine” under cooking classes.
Leave a Reply