My mission to turn flour and eggs into strands of spaghetti and fettuccine.
I ’ve long want to makepasta from scratch , but have been too afraid to essay it . Compared to other ambitions — jumping out of move airplanes , clambering up treacherous mountain peaks — fake pasta from scratch does n’t seem that scary . But for someone who ’s a spot of a culinary perfectionist , the estimation of creating a cartilaginous or crumbly noodle , and the mess that comes with it , keep me hesitating . I lovepastaso much . What if I ’m absolutely awful at make it ? It ’s a ridiculous matter , to be intimidated by flour , eggs , and salt .
Instead of spending a lifetime enquire what could be , I decided to take a class on making pasta so I ’d have a steady sage to guide me . I enlisted my mom to come with me , both as moral backing and for double the amount ofpastato take home . After scrolling through a dozen dissimilar classes and settle on one about fundamentals of alimentary paste - devising , we were off to see our very own pasta wizard .
Chef Luana Venturino has only been teach for a smattering of years , but carry a lifespan of culinary experience to disembowel from in the schoolroom . She was born and elicit in Ascoli Piceno , a townspeople in central Italy nestled between the Adriatic ocean to the east and Apennine mountains to the west . This is where she mastered her grandmother ’s recipes , begin when she was nine years one-time . “ She was this soft , flump older Italian lady who be intimate to cook and to consume — her food was divine , ” Venturino reminisces . “ It was for fun at first , but I lost my mother a few age by and by and cooking cursorily became one of my responsibility as I raised two younger sister . ”
Pasta only requires eggs, flour, salt, and facing your silly fears.|Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
From there , Venturino move to Tortoreto Lido and opened up a eating house and pizzeria with her married man in 1978 , which she ran for three decennary . “ I was responsible for all kitchenandpizza - making surgical process , ” Venturino explains . “ In Italy , pizza was still a male - dominated playing field and as a young woman establishing myself as a pizzaiola and a cordial reception entrepreneur , I was a pioneer back then . ” The eating place had over two dozen pizzas to select from , and Venturino made , on average , 120pizzasper evening .
“ I think the best part of teaching culinary classes is showing my students they can do it . ”
These days , Venturino live in Los Angeles with her hubby , after moving to be closer to her daughter who exist stateside . Cooking was always on her head . “ I wanted to apportion my culinary culture and Italian traditions , ” she says . “ I offered my cooking services for takeout and very much bask hosting people for lovely and toothsome meal at home . ”
The author (left), Chef Luana Venturino (center), and the author’s mother (right), marvel at their handmade pasta.|Photo by Kat Thompson for Thrillist
Without the eating house to occupy her , Venturino began teach Italian cooking class through the platformCozymeal in her La Brea base . “ Their class and meal combo was absolutely perfect for me , ” she says . “ I get to teach , empower people through noesis , and share my love for bona fide Italian solid food and hospitality . ”
There ’s no mistaking the Italian presence in Venturino ’s home . A clump of panettone sits in one corner , waiting to be gifted . There ’s a foretoken in the kitchen that read ‘ Vino Cucina ’ and a great deal of impudent Basil of Caesarea originate on the kitchen counter .
My momma and I stand up at attention under Venturino ’s watchful eyes , scrambling testis into a flour well and getting our hands dirty kneading dough . Our moolah go from shaggy to smoothen , and while it rests Venturino feeds us , serve out a dyad of bruschetta : eggplantand sausage and classic Lycopersicon esculentum and St. Basil .
Then , Venturino wheels out her fleet of KitchenAid remain firm mixers and it ’s time to wave . The loot should be even and rectangular as it feeds into the pasta roller so you may maintain consistency as the kale is drop . My mamma and I try our proficient to feed the gelt gently but were often left with distorted , uneven rectangles . Whenever Venturino was n’t attend , we would cheat and fold the dough to resemble a perfect four - sided anatomy .
After several rounds of flattening , it ’s prison term to cut the dough . This , to me , was the most difficult part . As the pasta cutter whirs , you have to confidently feed the wampum in and catch the strands ofspaghetti . Venturino physically held my hands during this part . What add up out were flour - dusted strand of both spaghetti and fettuccini , which we hang on dry out racks .
away from the staple of dough , Venturino also oversees class on sauces , risotto , gnocchi , and pizza pie . On this twenty-four hours , she process our homemade spaghetti with a pomodoro sauce while the fettuccine is dressed with creamy mushrooms . As all fresh alimentary paste should be , ours is satisfyingly chewy and perfectly al dente . Thetomatosauce is bright and well - rounded , thanks to the accession of a node of butter , while the mushroom sauce is creamy and clings to yellow threads of fettuccini . I go back for seconds .
Pasta plates empty and leftovers backpack , we sit and love espresso while Venturino tell us about her love of commandment . “ I think the best part of teaching culinary course is showing my students they can do it , ” she says . “ I teach them to have fun and to pour making love into their cooking . The secret ingredient is always love . ”
For those inspired to make their own pasta at home , Venturino suggest buying gamy - quality , seasonal ingredients and encourages getting hand dirtied . “ Everyone can make great alimentary paste , ” she encourages . And if you ’re too intimidated to try it on your own , you could always take a course .
