Pasta Classes

One thing I am most thankful for is my mama teaching me how to cook. I am not a great cook, but I can do several things well and they are good, go-to meals and recipes that I know I can depend on. She has taught me how to make pasta, ravioli, lasagna, home made sauce, and tons of other simple fare that wows. The few times we all got together to make homemade pasta and ravioli, I got a ton of interest from other people that wanted to know if I taught classes. I had never thought about doing something like that before.

Justin encouraged me to get up a plan to make it an experience that allows people to take home everything they need to make their own pasta. I put out some feelers and immediately scheduled two classes (11 people!).

I spent some time looking for some good resources and made a booklet with our family’s sauce recipe, some tips and tricks of the trade we have learned from experience, an alfredo recipe, our lasagna recipe, and our pepperoni bread recipe. It also included a photo tutorial for people to reference after they have completed the class and want a brief update.

One of the surprisingly more costly pieces of the supply list was the pasta drying rack. It would make my profit diminish considerably. Justin, great as he is, said, “I can make those cheaply and simply!” Off to Lowe’s we went with a general idea of what we needed.  We whipped out 20 racks in less than two hours. I am so impressed with his ingenuity and willingness to help with all of my little side projects.

 

Getting the pasta machines in was like Christmas! I love spending other people’s money—I’d be a great personal shopper—and it was fun to unbox these machines for my participants. I loaded up the supply baskets with the machines, kitchen tools, and recipe books.

 

I think everyone that has participated in the classes has had a good time. I have to say when I started the idea of this class, I never even thought about making it a couples’ class but the husband/wife duos have had a great time. Hopefully, spreading the love of Italian cooking and the things my mama has taught me will have a positive impact on some of them!