Beyond the Pasta

Have you read Beyond The Pasta ? It is Mark Leslie's account of living with an Italian family. He spent a month with Nonna and her family, learning to cook and speak Italian. Last night we went to a cooking class Birmingham Bake and Cook ~ my favorite shop for all things Kitchen! Susan does a great job of keeping the place stocked with those hard to find items.

It was fun to watch Mark make three kinds pasta and the sauces to go with them in 3 hours. He was not only roling out the dough . . . but telling funny stories all along.
Allorah ~ What a Hoot!

We both agree'd that Italian cooks are Absolute about their recipes. Having cooked 'with' Marcella Hazan ~ I know that for a fact! Only fresh Italian ingredients, and then only in a certain order . . .

He whipped up several batches of 2 egg pasta ~ and then one with spinach for fettuccini.

I jumped in to help with the rolling . . .

check the total concentration . . .
Mark made it look very easy ~ and didn't even break a sweat. Nonna would be proud!
If you haven't read the book ~ it is a must. The recipes are there, but the best part is the southern guy living the life in Italy. I can relate to so many of the stories !

Ciao Y'all ~
Sandi