Home-made Garganelli with pesto and cherry tomatoes

(serves 2)

I love presents that you receive and are just a treat that you would never get for yourself. An Italian cooking class is exactly one of them, thanks to my wonderful boyfriend who got this for me for  Christmas. After finishing my thesis, i could finally sign up guilt-free and now i'm freshly inspired (along with a few more fun pasta-making devices!). This dish i had to try with my cute new garganelli board and mini rolling pin! The little ridges help the pesto (or sauce) to stay on the pasta and make it extra delicious.

New pasta kit: wooden pasta board, drying rack, mandolino (catcher to get pasta out of the pot without breaking it), garganelli board and pasta cutter and scraper!

 Luciana at Cucina Italiana had plenty of helpful tips and fresh ideas that will slowly come into this blog in due time. I think the main pasta-making tips that i picked up were;

1. Use a wooden surface so that it can absorb some of the moisture of the dough, helping it to come to the right consistency.

2. Clean the surface before kneading.

3. Kneading technique: use the palm of your hand and roll the dough out into a football shape rather than squashing it down.  Turn it vertically then continue for 6 minutes until the dough is consistent and takes on a paler colour

4. If you've kneaded your dough well, you don't need to fold when rolling the sheets out. Can just roll through from 1 to 7 once on each setting! (Major time saver!)

5. When cutting pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle), dry the pasta sheet for half an hour before so that the pasta doesn't stick together. Dry it completely (useful to have a fan in the room) before cooking to ensure they don't stick together.

Luciana has a beautiful house and kitchen and i totally loved the cooking dinner party concept, would definitely recommend it as a gift to someone or yourself!

Prep time: 1 1/2 hours

Cooking time: 10 min

Ingredients:

220g Tipo '00' Flour

2 eggs, room temperature

20g pine nuts, toasted.

3-4 T pesto

handful of cherry tomatoes

handful of fresh basil
10-15g shaved parmesan, to serve

Method:

1. Make the fresh pasta dough with 200g flour and 2 eggs, with extra 20g on the side in case it's too wet. Create a large well with the flour and crack the eggs in the middle. Beat with a fork until the egg yolks are scrambled, then slowly incorporate the flour until it is a custard consistency.

2. Use the scraper to incorporate the rest of the flour, folding the flour from bottom to top.

NB. I was making enough pasta for 4 people in this photo, general rule of thumb is 100g & 1 egg to 1 person. 

3. Knead the dough for 6 minutes, or until the consistency is smooth, pale and bounces back with a gentle press. This is the make or break step, so you have to be patient!

4. Leave covered under a bowl or wrapped in glad wrap for 30 minutes. 
5. Cut the dough into half. Take one half to roll out and leave the other one covered to ensure it remains soft. Flatten the dough slightly, then put through the pasta machine once on each setting from 1 to 7.

6. Cut the dough into 5cmx 5cm squares. Place the square as a diamond on the garganelli board and roll out firmly with the mini rolling pin. Flour the pin slightly, then roll the pasta around the pin. Remove and dry on the drying rack or set aside on a plate.

NB. You will need to work relatively quickly so that the pasta doesn't dry out, as it won't seal together if it does.
7. Heat a pot of salted boiling water and place the pasta in and cook for 2-3 minutes until al dente. 
8. Remove from the pot and toss in pesto, cherry tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper and top with a sprinkle of pine nuts and parmesan.