Pasta making at Quarry Coffee & Cafe

A cooking class in Lannon, WI

Confession: I'd never even heard of Lannon before my mom signed us up for a cooking class at Quarry Coffee & Cafe a few months back. Or maybe I had heard of it and just forgot (I do that sometimes). To all Lannonphiles, I apologize. But thanks to these cooking classes, I too have become a Lannonphile! See? People can change. 

This month's class was a lesson in pasta making. We didn't walk away with pasta to take home, but we ate plenty of it during class and had the chance to get our hands dirty. Just like last time, our teacher and chef Scott Mattfeld encouraged us to dive right in, while also encouraging any and all questions. How long do you knead the dough? Until it has a sort of sheen and elasticity — or, as an easier point of reference, until it feels like Play-doh.

We rolled out a simple egg dough for fettuccine noodles and used the same dough for three cheese ravioli. For the fettuccine, we students each got to crank the pasta machine and watch as the dough thinned out. Once it was thin enough, we cranked the machine as the sheets of dough were cut into long strips. Fresh pasta like this only has to cook for about 3 to 4 minutes — crazy!  

For the eating, Scott had pasta dishes ready so we could graze as we learned. He topped the three cheese ravioli with an easy homemade marinara sauce (yum!), and the fettuccine became a most delicious carbonara (major yum!). For dessert, something unique: chocolate pasta with a chocolate hazelnut cream sauce! I'd never heard of or imagined such a thing, and while I wouldn't go out of my way to make it or necessarily even eat it again, it was a fun little experience.

In the end, I could see that pasta making is definitely an event. One lady in class said that the first time she tried to make pasta, she started at 4:00 and was done at midnight. Clearly it can be quite an ordeal without the right instructions and tools. My mom and I concluded that making ravioli would probably be the most rewarding, since you could stuff each little pillow with a fresh, delicious filling. But as for noodles like fettuccine, it seems silly not to just buy them in a box. 

I can't wait for my next cooking class at Quarry Coffee & Cafe! Of course, I have no real idea when that will be — classes are sold out until October. Talk about popular demand!