Stuffed Pasta Workshop with Christine Hickman @ Las Cosas

Yesterday, I attended a class on stuffed pasta at Las Cosas with Christine Hickman. We were a small class of five people. I worked on the Cannelloni with a partner. Part of the class included making pasta dough so that all dishes were using fresh pasta.

Class Description: Have you felt like saying stuff it lately; so have we but in a good way. Today Christine Hickman teaches us a menu of classic pasta dishes with a twist. Our menu includes: FAZZOLETTI “Handkerchiefs” with Spinach & Roasted Tomato, FIOCCHETTI (Stuffed Purses) with Ricotta & Pear, CANNELLONI with Chicken & Mortadella, ARUGULA, AVOCADO & FIG SALAD and for dessert, ESPRESSO RICOTTA with Seasonal Berries & Mint. Delicioso! (Hands-on)

Cannelloni with Chicken and Mortadella

We started with the chicken filling. I cut up some chicken breast and it was cooked in a skillet.

Since we were not going to put the filling in a food processor, the chicken needed to be cut up much smaller after we cooked it. We also had to dice some mortadella and prosciutto.

We added that to the pan with the chicken. After the chicken was cooked, we transferred all the meat to a bowl and added Parmigiano-Reggiano, nutmeg, heavy cream, salt, and black pepper.

While the meats were cooking, I started the béchamel – butter, flour, milk, salt, and nutmeg.

The marinara sauce had already been made for us – olive oil, garlic, canned plum tomatoes, salt, black pepper, parsley, and basil.

We added olive oil to the bottom of a casserole dish.

After our noodles were boiled, we started adding filling and rolling them.

We added them to the casserole dish as they were rolled.

We poured the béchamel over them first, followed by the marinara sauce.

Then we sprinkled Parmigiano-Reggiano on top with cubes of butter.

We put it in the oven to heat everything up and melt the butter and cheese.

The Other Menu Items

Fazzoletti “Handkerchiefs” with Spinach & Roasted Tomatoes – butter, shallots, heavy cream, lemon zest, salt, black pepper, spinach, tomatoes, pistachios, and Parmesan.

Fiocchetti (Stuffed Purses) with Ricotta & Pear – ricotta, Parmesan, pear, and heavy cream.

Arugula, Avocado and Fig Salad – arugula, romaine lettuce, avocado, lemon juice, figs, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.

Espresso Ricotta with Blueberries & Mint – ricotta, ground espresso, sugar, mint, and blueberries.