Cooking Pasta Part III - Hands-on Tagliatelle

This is the final post on my Pasta Making adventures. It's funny how the sequence of events was actually backwards but I guess sometimes it's cool to see the end before the beginning so, here it goes...

Tiziana had mentioned that her “baby” was a tuna lasagna. Yup, she’s so proud of making this one up! I was dying to try it out as it sounded so unusual. I asked her to bring me one of those the next time we met for yoga which would be on a Thursday. She had asked me to give her a call the day before to remind her.

OK, so it’s Wednesday and I had a midday interview with a new prospect for my English communication business. It so happened that my interview was not too far from Lasagna e Via so, I gave Tiz a call suggesting that I could actually swing by and pick up the lasagna. I made it there, dressed to impress while Pat, Tiz, and Lola (one of their employees) were busy making dough for the pasta. My eyes lit up.

Unlike last time, it was around noon and the place was hopping with customers picking up their phoned-in orders. In case I forgot to mention, Lasagna e Via is a take-out only business.

So, dangling an apron with one hand and pouring me a glass of white wine with the other, Tiziana asked if I wanted to get my hands dirty and learn to make pasta. I quickly responded “for sure!”
So, this time, as if going backwards, I was to learn how to mix the ingredients to make the dough. The process involved mixing flour and egg in a food processor. Since all eggs are not made equal, I was to use my judgment in determining if the dough was moist enough before kneading. So we kept some water in a cup nearby.

Pat instructed me to mix 300gm of flour (using a cup measure) with 3 whole eggs. I was to mix it up in the processor and then decide if additional moisture was needed. After that, I was to spread the mix on the counter and proceed to knead it out until it had a tight but soft-to-the-touch consistency. Once the ball of dough is good, we quickly store it in a plastic bag to conserve moisture. At this point, the dough can be frozen for later use. I had no idea it was this simple!


I went through several rounds of this process. I found it extremely relaxing. The kneading was a very nice stretching exercise for my writs. Pat and Lola would occasionally stop by my station to supervise, naturally, trying to abide by their quality standards and to give tried and true tips for preparing "beautiful" dough.

Once I made like 10 balls of dough, I could learn how to make tagliatelle, the short, flat spaghetti. But first, I needed to learn even more basics! Pat asked me if I’d like to make the dough from scratch without using the food processor. “Bring it on!” I thought. So, now she taught me how to make a volcano with the flour on top of the counter and then add the eggs in the middle. Then mix and knead by hand. To ensure I had the right level of moisture, I was to either add water or add a little flour. Fun stuff, indeed! I felt like a little kid with play-dough.


With all the dough ready, it was time to make pasta! Pat *strongly* suggested not using the pasta machine at all and instead roll it out using just the pin. I was up to the challenge!

Pat taught me how to do it mostly to show me the appropriate thickness for tagliatelle. By now, I was remembering an incredible dish I once had in Venice of tagliatelle with fresh crab meet, garlic and olive oil. Ahh, the possibilities when you make your own pasta!

Working and talking, I finally told them the story of the Dominican Lasagna in New York. They just chuckled as they went about their tasks.

I made several sheets of pasta, getting them ready for cutting them into the tagliatelle. We used a special pasta cutting knife (see photo) and Pat taught me, several times (I was slow on this one), how to first roll up the pasta sheet like a tube and then use the knife to cut the roll into segments of the desired width for my pasta. Pat explained to me how in old Italy, the job of being the pasta cutter was very, very important. I can see that. “What do you mean there’s no fresh pasta today?” A brief panic rushed over me.

Each segment of the rolled, already cut pasta is gently unbundled with the fingers. The end result looks like a small bird’s nest. Once unbundled, we placed each nest in a tray lined with a cloth napkin and then we covered them with another cloth napkin. Unlike ravioli, the tagliatelle needs to dry out a bit before cooking, so these guys were going to sit in the tray for a while.

As payment for my work, Pat sent me home with a *small* care package including:

• some of the pasta I just made
• bolognese sauce to-go
• frozen dough for making empanadas at home
• an assortment of fresh-out-of-the-oven empanadas (eggplant, homemade sausage, and kale with cheese)
• and of course, the tuna lasagna that I originally came for.

On the way out, Pat revealed that that the “crack” in the empanada dough are tiny bits of homemade sausage and fresh oregano.

On the ride back home the car smelled of something wonderful. I’m weak. I couldn’t wait to get home, literally…I reached for the empanadas and snarfed two of the down. I drove home happily and ready for a nap after all my hard work.

In the evening, I boiled my tagliatelle for 4 minutes and mixed it with the bolognese sauce. It was heavenly. The next evening, I tried the tuna lasagna and it was wonderful! It had a Mexican twist as the sauce had chilli peppers.

And, yes, the new prospect hired me!

Cooking Pasta Part II - Adventures in Ravioli Making

It was one of the loveliest evenings since I can remember. The specialness of this one laid in its spontaneity.

But first, a little background:

Tiziana was one of the first, and certainly most eager students who came to my yoga classes here in GDL. After class, one day, we started talking about our mutual love for food. She seemed more excited and excitable than your average GDL resident. She casually blurted out that she had been born in Bologna, Italy and came to Mexico as a young child. For work, she runs a lasagna shop with her sister Patricia.

“Lasagna, you said?” I asked and without waiting for an answer I bragged about my lasagna. We both got so excited to have this other thing in common. We agreed to exchange lasagnas. It was understood that hers was artesanal and mine was rustic.

At the start of the next yoga class, lasagnas were exchanged with relentless giddiness. I went home ate mine and loved it! Tiz explained that the pasta was made from scratch at her shop. I lamented how much I missed good Italian food since moving to GDL. Whining, I confessed my desire to learn to how to make ravioli.

“Easy!” She exclaimed. “How about you come over to the shop and my sister and I will make it happen.” I nodded with excitement. Then she added “Oh, we like to drink red wine while cooking. Is that OK with you?” By now I was ready to hug this woman and declare her my new best friend.

And so, the night came. It was a Thursday night. I like to go out on Thursday nights because of its unpretentious way of almost being the weekend. The air was festive already. The shop was small and beautifully appointed -- efficient, with clean lines, gorgeous white roses in a couple of places, and the smell of deliciousness was unquestionably the most important guest this evening.

Tiz and Patricia were hosting and two of their friends joined: Tere, a happy, energetic woman, who brought the white roses and was ready to crack some jokes, and Lorena a warm woman of wise words, thoughtful questions, and a good record as a world traveler. So, on to the business at hand: Ravioli making! I mean, look at my face in the pictures. Do I not look just so excited? Sometimes, it amazes me how little it takes to get me to this state. I like this sort of high.

Patricia was full of charm and ready to “teach” me. She handed me an official "Lasagna e Via" apron. She really meant business. Her patience and methodology told me: she’s done this a lot of times so I was eager to be learned. Oh, and don’t mess with her!

The dough had been made and ready to be rolled out. Pat kindly offered to teach me how to mix the dough but in the interest of time, we continued with what we had. First, we mixed the very simple filling:

1 tbsp of parsley
2 cups of Requesón (the Mexican version of Ricotta)
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste

Next, she introduced me to the process of prepping the dough before using the pasta machine so, she instructed me to massage it out a bit and then use the rolling pin to make the starting, albeit thick, sheet of pasta. fter that, the pasta making machine came out and I was taught to put the dough through, starting at the highest setting, cranking the handle, and continuing the process, lowering the setting until the pasta was thin enough for ravioli. We were to make two long sheets of pasta. As soon as you’re done with the first sheet, you cover it so that it doesn’t lose moisture.

For the last sheet, Tiz taught me how to stick a parsley leaf and put it through the machine and see how the leaf becomes big and thin; it looked like a cool tattoo.

Now, we’re ready to put the ravioli together. By now, wine’s been guzzled down. With everyone abuzz, the room was getting warm thanks to the laughter, my hard, happy work, and for the big pot of boiling water for the pasta to cook.

I laid out one of sheets in front of me, cut it in half, and then trimmed around the edges to make them into rectangles of the same size. One half-sheet stays on the counter and we spoon the cheese filling in little gobs leaving enough space to comfortably sew the ravioli together. This is a good time to decide on the size of each ravioli. Will it be ravioli, raviolini, or raviolocho? The one with the parsley tattoo will have to be a raviolocho.

With the bottom half-sheet all set with the filling, we evenly set the second half-sheet on top and iron out any pockects of air with our fingers. Then we use the special pasta cutter to cut while sewing the edges off leaving the familiar ridges all around.

We set the ravioli on a tray lined with a cloth napkin and then covered them with another cloth napkin. We try to minimize exposure to the air. With the water boiling, and ravioli ready, we throw them in to cook for no more than 3 minutes. By now, Tiziana was busy making the sauce:

2 cups of butter
2 tbsp chopped sage

With the ravioli out, Tiz tossed them in the butter sauce. She had already made a caeser’s salad. We sat down to eat, another bottle of wine was as necessary as the next gasp of air after so much laughter. We accompanied the pasta and salad with sausage bread as well as sausage empanadas all previously made on-site and by hand. Can you feel the love?

With food in tummy, head abuzz, and an air of teamwork satisfaction, we all agree to do this again. Like a dinner club.

Since this is an Italian feast, there has got to be a simple dessert and a memorable after dinner drink. Tiz had made poached pears with raspberry sauce. Patricia surprised us with home-made mandarin limoncello – she called it mandaretto. I called it “OH MY GOD!” That’s all I can say for now.

Check out the slide show (click on the photo to see the title, hover toward to the top to get the previous and next buttons):



I went home with care packages, a bunch of white roses, a big smile on my face, the anticipation of learning more about making pasta and perhaps meeting the ladies for a mid-day Campari sometime soon.

On the ride home, I marveled at finding Italy in Mexico -- I would’ve never imagined it. I love peculiar coincidences like these; it fed my spirit and my tummy. What else can I ask for on this fine day?

A few weeks have gone by and when I see Tiziana, a little bit of the world reveals itself to me through her mediterranean spark . Pat will forever be my pasta making teacher. She already holds a prominent place along with all my other spiritual teachers.

Cooking Pasta Part I - A Dominican Lasagna in Mexico (recipe)

After a short, stress-free day at work, I brewed myself a nice cup of chamomile and lavender tea, tuned in to NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, and whipped up a lasagna. This, I call meditation in motion.

I am not really sure how lasagna became a staple of the Dominican diet. It’s actually a staple of Dominicans in New York. From my childhood in the Dominican Republic, I recall people talking about lasagna as one of the most popular dishes at dinner parties thrown by the very rich – I had never seen nor tasted one. All I knew is that it was fancy, and therefore, a very expensive dish to make. Not too mention a bit weird, right?

In the late 70’s, as thousands of poor Dominican folks immigrated to the United States, mostly to New York, lasagna-making became accessible to everyone thanks to the easy availability of so many cooking ingredients at relatively inexpensive prices. These Dominicans were ready to bask in the grandeur of being able to afford lasagna in their newly-adopted land.

I moved to New York in the 80’s, a teenager not that interested in food though my mom made sure that she served her now world-famous lasagna frequently. Her signature lasagna is made with ground turkey and lots of fresh vegetables. Since I can remember, her lasagna is served in every special ocassion including thanksgiving, christmas, and birthdays.

So, what is a Dominican lasagna? I have no idea! A good American friend of mine used to say that any self-respecting Dominican girl in New York must be able to make a mean lasagna…he was right! My mom used to size up my brother's Dominican girlfriends by the quality of their lasagnas. Anyway, I have invented my own recipe mostly from the memory of my palate after having enjoyed them so much living under my mom’s roof.

Now that I live in Mexico and have taken up cooking as a hobby, my Dominican lasagna has caused quite a stir amongst friends and acquaintances; some have even suggested that I market it. I’m calling mine a Dominican-American lasagna because it’s influenced not only by all the versions I’ve had in the Dominican community but also by all the ones I’ve tasted in notoriously Italian neighborhoods in New York and Boston. I've also had them in Italy. In making this dish, there’s a lot of room for creativity and I really encourage experimentation.

My lasagna is definitely “rustica” and it has a sweet and hearty flavor…so without much ado, here’s the recipe (serves 4 very large or 6 medium sized portions):

Ingredients (in order of appearance):
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large cloves of garlic diced or crushed
- ½ cup white or yellow onions
- ¼ cup celery, diced
- 3 plum tomatoes, very ripe, chopped
- 1 tbsp oregano (preferably fresh), chopped small
- 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped small
- 3 fresh sage leaves, chopped small
- 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced,
- 1 medium pear squash or chayote, cubed medium (if not available, use more carrots and zucchini)
- 1lb ground beef, lean (or turkey)
- 1 medium zucchini, cubed medium
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup of red wine (I use port)
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp baby capers
- Salt and pepper to taste

- Lasagna noodles – I like the Barilla 20-minutes pre-cooked noodles
- 2-3 cups of pasta sauce – I either make my own or buy a jar of Classico or Barilla Tomato Basil sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (requesón in Mexico)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (adobera o oaxaca in Mexico)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (cotija in Mexico)

Step 1 – Make the filling:

1. In a large sautee pan, heat up the oil then add the onion, garlic, and celery. Sautee and stir until lightly brown.



2. Add tomatoes, herbs, and some salt and pepper. Stir until tomatoes cook down and start to make a paste.



3. Add carrot and pear squash then sautee, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.



4. Add the meat, crumbling it up with your hands but leaving some big chunks. Let it cook, stirring occasionally until it stops looking red.



5. Add the zucchini and mushrooms.



6. Add the wine, Worcestershire sauce, and capers.



7. Let the liquids simmer, stirring occasionally, until the alcohol cooks down a bit.



8. Taste the meat filling and see if you need to adjust the flavor.



9. If you plan to bake the lasagna, preheat the oven at 225°F.
   

Step 2 – Assemble it!

1. Spread the bottom of a medium-size square Pyrex dish with a little bit of pasta sauce and one teaspoon of olive oil. You can use any other type of glass dish that is safe for baking.



2. Line the bottom with a layer of noodles.



3. On top of the noodles, spread one cooking spoon full of the meat filling.



4. Evenly spread 4 heaping tablespoons of the tomato sauce.



5. With your hands, crumble up and spread 1/3 of the cup each of the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.



6. Repeat steps 2-5 to make another layer.



7. Add the last layer of noodles.



8. Spread the more sauce of top, making sure some drops down on the side (inside) of the dish since the noodles need the moisture.



9. Add the remaining of the crumbled up cheeses.



10. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.



11. If you have any meat left-over, you might want to save and use it as a base for a Bolognese-like sauce.
    

Step 3 – Bake it and eat it!

1. At this point you can cover and freeze for later or bake it now.



2. To bake, put in the oven at 425°F for 20 to 30 minutes depending on how brown the top gets. You might want to cover it at the beginning to get keep it nice and moist.



3. When done, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to cool.



4. Serve with yummy warm bread and a side salad.



5. Enjoy!
   

If you plan to make the sauce, here’s what I do:

Ingredients:
- 3 cloves garlic, large, oven roasted then diced
- 5 basil leaves, whole
- Fresh oregano and/or rosemary to taste
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 8 plum tomatoes, very ripe
- 2 cups of water or chicken stock
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste

To make the sauce:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.



2. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.



3. Boil on high to medium heat for 30 minutes.



4. Taste to see if it needs salt, pepper, and sugar.



5. If you’re pressed for time, you can mash the tomatoes down a bit while they’re cooking. I like my sauce a little chunky and watery.