Don't worry...it's only pasta!

     Our chef/instructor Alain repeated those words of encouragement throughout our cooking class in Tuscany as we attempted to make pasta, many of us for the first time.  "Don't worry, it's only pasta!"

     The task seemed simple enough.  After all, there were only two ingredients: flour and eggs.  What could go wrong?  Take 3/4 of a cup of 00 flour and break an egg into a well that you have made in the center of the flour.  Slowly incorporate the flour into the egg using a fork horizontally, not vertically, until you have a consistent mixture of the two.  Then work it with your hands, folding and gently pressing.  But not too much!  Overworking it will lead to tough, chewy pasta and you don't want that.  Roll it into a ball and then tightly cover it in plastic wrap for about 20 minutes.  When the time is up unwrap it and work it gently with the palms of your hands and then roll it out with a rolling pin into a thin sheet.

 

     Sounds easy, doesn't it?  Well, not everyone achieved success on the first try.  But eventually the class was able to use their pasta to form ravioli and tagliatelle.  

                                                                                 

 

     Our reward was to enjoy the fruits of our labor as we sat together around a large wooden table to a feast we had created!