Mia Lapwood reviews a pasta making lesson at Pasta Academy, ultimately detailing it as a must-do experience

Published
Images by Mia Lapwood

I attended the popular Pasta Evangelist’s pasta academy with unlimited prosecco this weekend and I was not disappointed. I did a 2-hour beginner class where I learnt how to make tagliatelle from scratch! On arrival there were 3 big tables set up, a table for pairs, one for people on their own and one for slightly bigger groups. Your station was already set up for you when you arrived with the flour, egg, apron, rolling pin and pasta cutter as well as a delicious antipasti waiting for you. As soon as everyone was seated the prosecco started flowing and they were extremely generous with their pouring – my glass was never empty! My class was led by one of the head chefs, Roberta, who was incredibly funny and entertaining.

There are over 300 different types of pasta in Italy, however she said that in the future she expects that to drop to 150-200 as not enough Italians are passing down their knowledge

Chef Roberta gathered us all around her station, making sure we all had our Prosecco in hand! She started by introducing herself and telling us about growing up in Italy and some history about the pasta in Italy. There are over 300 different types of pasta in Italy, however she said that in the future she expects that to drop to 150-200 as not enough Italians are passing down their knowledge on how to make each type. She told us that it’s the ‘Nonna’s’ (grandma’s) job to pass down instructions in the family and comedically told us about Nonna’s secret weapon – the rolling pin! Roberta moved on to talking about how pasta made using a pasta maker can’t be called home-made which led to me laughing as my friend has told me that is how she has previously made pasta – Roberta was quick to notice my laughter and swiftly called us out in front of the group! It was a humorous start to the class.

We watched a demonstration on how to start making the dough. Ingredients wise it is very simple; all you need is 100 grams of flour and 1 egg for each person you are cooking for. To start, pour the flour out into a circle on your chopping board and make a hole in the middle. Crack your egg into the hole in the flour and then whisk away! Make sure to keep pushing the flour in as you whisk. You should end up with dough that looks a bit like scrambled eggs. At this point, use your hands to push it all together until it looks like a good ball of dough. I ended up with dough all over my hands as my dough wasn’t the right consistency as I had started squishing too early and one of the assistants had to help me scrape it all off! Chef Roberta walked around everyone’s stations making sure everyone’s dough looked good.

 

We were told a good size is to have each piece around a pinky finger’s width

Once Chef Roberta was satisfied, she called us over to her station again where she taught us how to correctly roll out our dough. You start by using your rolling pin how you would expect – but the key with making fresh pasta is to get the dough thin enough. If you think your dough is thin enough – it won’t be – so keep rolling! A top tip is to let some of the dough hang off your chopping board to allow it to stretch out and to keep repeating this whilst rolling out and rotating your dough. A way to test if your dough is thin enough is if you can start to see your board through it or if you hold up your dough you should be able to see your hand through it. Once the dough is ready you can start cutting it with the pasta cutter provided. We were told a good size is to have each piece around a pinky finger’s width. If you want to change the shape of your pasta you can twist it slightly into fun shapes– however this requires longer to settle before cooking. Once we cut our pasta, we had to put it in little bowls with our names on that got taken up to the head chef’s station where she started cooking it. Fresh pasta only needs 2-3 minutes to cook so everyone got their pasta relatively quickly. There was a beef ragu sauce (and a vegetarian option available as well) to go with the pasta and optional parmesan. The pasta and sauce turned out amazing and everyone finished their bowls quickly, along with their prosecco!

There was a beef ragu sauce (and a vegetarian option available as well)

The class was an amazing experience that everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. I ended up buying a rolling pin, pasta cutter and Roberta’s cookbook that she signed for me! There were many other items available to buy as well. I would highly recommend attending a pasta class from Roberta, she made it extremely entertaining, I learnt a lot and the endless prosecco was an added bonus! I’m already planning a dinner party for friends where I can make my pasta from scratch! I will definitely be going back to attend a more advanced class!


Hungry for more? Check out these articles:

Is it worth it?: Blank Street Coffee 

Best food spots in Seville

Review: Deli 17

Comments