Pasta-tively wonderful Florence, ItalyWhen I was in grade eight my parents pulled me out of school to go on a trip they’d been saving for since I was a baby. Over eight months we visited almost 25 countries, across four continents and experienced many different cultures. One of my favourite stops though had to have been Florence, Italy. We liked it so much we named our dog Florence!
Italy was one of our longer stops; we stayed in this absurd apartment above a Chinese restaurant where they blasted operatic Italian music all day, for a full month (see attached pictures). My parents believed one of the best ways to immerse yourself in life, wherever you were was by learning the cuisine so we took many cooking classes all over the world. In Italy, it only made sense to take a pasta-making class. We followed Google Maps through winding cobblestone roads to a little hidden kitchen. Inside were a handful of 20-something backpackers from all over the globe and a small Italian woman in an apron. She welcomed us inside, led a few icebreakers, then offered me a glass of wine; I was only 13! She led us through each ingredient we’d need in the delicate crafting of our pasta noodles and then we began. We made three types of pasta with delicious handmade dough and odd tools I’d never seen before. While we waited for the pasta to sit, the chef offered to send me to a teen disco with her kids. but my mom was worried I’d get lost, (like I had in France) or not be able to talk to anyone as my Italian vocabulary only went as far as “How much is this?” (Quanto sei?) and “Pardon me,” (Scusa!). We wrapped our cooking with sauce and a cheesy ricotta filling for the raviolis and waited once again for everything to boil. Once our pasta was done and plated we had a meal with the backpackers and got to know them a little bit. We traded advice and tales from our travels. We took back leftovers for my dad who had opted to explore rather than cook. He decided he had to replicate it when we got home to Canada. We enjoyed the rest of our time in Italy, visiting major tourist spots and trying new foods. I plan on going back as soon as I can because Florence really felt like a second home. Five months later, at my actual home, we tried to recreate the pasta and failed dramatically (crummy dough, sour sauce, etc) but we’ll keep practicing together. |
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Pasta Dough Recipe
Ingredients
Eggs
Flour
Tools
Rolling pin
Chiattara pasta cutter
Pot
Pasta dough
For one serving of pasta you will need one egg and two cups of flour.
1. Make a volcano with the flour (two cups) on a countertop and drop the egg into it. Slowly add flour to the egg until you form a dough. To add the the flour you should push it into the egg gently and mix slowly It should be only slightly sticky but overall one solid. You may need to add more flour as you go. Let it rest for a bit under a cloth.
2. Flatten dough with your hands into a patty then use a rolling pin to make the dough thin. Should be the thickness of a coin. Sprinkle flour on dough, table and hands if your pasta is sticky.
3. Lay the dough out on the chiattara pasta cutter and roll the rolling pin across. Apply flour to help rolling pin glide. Pasta should fall out bottom in thin noodles. If not, apply more pressure or flatten you dough some more.
4. Sprinkle flour into noodles and toss gently.
5. Boil noodles in an appropriate pot for twenty minutes. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.
Eggs
Flour
Tools
Rolling pin
Chiattara pasta cutter
Pot
Pasta dough
For one serving of pasta you will need one egg and two cups of flour.
1. Make a volcano with the flour (two cups) on a countertop and drop the egg into it. Slowly add flour to the egg until you form a dough. To add the the flour you should push it into the egg gently and mix slowly It should be only slightly sticky but overall one solid. You may need to add more flour as you go. Let it rest for a bit under a cloth.
2. Flatten dough with your hands into a patty then use a rolling pin to make the dough thin. Should be the thickness of a coin. Sprinkle flour on dough, table and hands if your pasta is sticky.
3. Lay the dough out on the chiattara pasta cutter and roll the rolling pin across. Apply flour to help rolling pin glide. Pasta should fall out bottom in thin noodles. If not, apply more pressure or flatten you dough some more.
4. Sprinkle flour into noodles and toss gently.
5. Boil noodles in an appropriate pot for twenty minutes. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.
All images by myself and my dad (Aaron Wood).