Hi, guys!
I am still feeling the high from Yvonne’s pasta making class last night because we had so much fun! Nick and I have always enjoyed cooking together and are always trying something new. My family is Italian and I’ve been making pasta sauce for years now. I never really thought about taking the leap into the noodle making, but Nick had been saying he wants to try making them. I would kind of just roll my eyes and tell him the amount of work it’d be! When thinking of ideas for Nick’s birthday, I thought to myself if he wants to make noodles, let’s learn how to do it right! After some research, I came across Yvonne’s website. Pasta is her specialty so I gave her a call right away. After talking to her about her class, I was SO excited and booked us a class right away!
We were really excited the day of and found our way to Handmade Pasta by Yvonne, in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh. We were greeted by Yvonne and her husband, Jim. It’s a small shop that Yvonne makes her pasta in, but they also sell bags of their pasta, as well, as olive oil and some other goodies. Shortly after two other couples arrived, Yvonne handed us our aprons (that you take home!) to begin our pasta making journey.
First, Yvonne gave us a quick rundown of what to expect for the evening. She then demonstrated how will we make the dough and learned some technical tips along the way, like using room temperature eggs. Then it was our turn. She walked around to each individual, helping as needed. After this quick process was done we had to let the dough rest.
She had a table set for us and had us sit while opening some Prosecco to welcome us all to their shop. Then she brought out an antipasto plate for each of us. Little did we realize that she would keep coming out with more food! She said wanted the experience to be similar to what it would be if you went to someone’s house in Italy to learn how to make pasta.We didn’t stop eating once we stepped through the door. We tried about 8 other various Italian appetizers she made (not all photographed due to chowing down), all while she talked to us about their families time in Italy and the different foods we were eating. We were already stuffed!
Then it was time to burn off some of those calories and get back to the pasta making! Yvonne demonstrated, then just has you go for it. We were taught how to prepare the pasta by hand cutting and machine to see which way we prefer. She then cooks up some of your noodles served with the olive oil flavor of your choice (she’s hooked up with Olive Tap ). And mangia, again! I actually preferred the hand cut noodles, but they were a lot more work (of course). But holy moly both ways were goooood. Handmade pasta is just out of this world compared to boxed pasta!
After that, it was time let the pasta dry a bit before packing it up to take home. Which also meant time for dessert! Yvonne brought out various different cookies and homemade gelato with strawberries and balsamic glaze, along with espresso to drink! We were stuffed and basically in food heaven. We had such a good time with the others in our class and making new friends. So much that we all signed up for the advanced class, which is ravioli, in July together!
I can’t say enough positive things about our experience! Yvonne was so patient with us and fun to learn from. Her husband, Jim was doing his share of work in the background by cleaning up after us to make each transition extra easy so we could concentrate on pasta making. If you have any interest in learning how to make pasta this class is worth every penny! If you don’t have any interest in making pasta, I still recommend stopping by her store to pick up a bag to enjoy.
Thank you, Yvonne and Jim for a wonderful pasta making class and meal!
Xo, Anna
Anna Hinkle 