Pasta making with Jamie Halsall


I have two passions; food and community. In my day job, I spend my time working with children with a SEMH need and of course in my free time I love all things food-related. 
So when I heard about the opening of the community kitchen in Brighton I was so excited. To kick off the project I was invited along, with a selection of bloggers, to try out their brand new kitchen.

The Brighton and Hove partnership partnered with Jamie Halsall, the head chef of Cin Cin, to host a pasta workshop. We were lucky enough to be given the recipes and taught the skills in order to make two types of pasta.


We started the workshop by having a tour of the kitchen; a perfect mix of comfort cooking and industrial decor. The kitchen is fully kitted with fridges, counter tops and multiple hobs. There is also a gorgeous dining area and a lot of room for workshops and classes. It really is a great space.  

We were then given a full demonstration of how to make two kinds of pasta. First, a semolina mix which we were taught to make into gnocchi and then an egg based pasta which, with a lot of brute force, we were shown how to make into tagliatelle. 



To start we made the semolina-based pasta by combining semolina and water by hand and then kneading into a dough. We then left it to rest for around 5 minutes. 
Then it was time for the shaping. We rolled the dough into a simple square and then cut into thumb wide strips, then using the very clever board to create the distinctive shapes, and although difficult to master at first it was actually very therapeutic. 



Next, it was time for the tagliatelle. Using an egg-based mixture of 100g 00 flour combined with eggs and mixed by hand. We again left this to rest and rolled out by hand. This was the ultimate in cooking workouts; rolling and turning repeatedly until it was rolled thin. We then cut the shape into an even square and then continued to roll as thin as we could. To make the tagliatelle we scored the top and bottom of each sheet with the pasta cutter, next was cutting from each cut in a straight line to create the distinctive shape. 


I couldn't believe how simple the pasta was to cook. I will definitely be making a pasta again, especially with the clear instructions and faultless recipes provided by Jamie. 
To finish the meal we were lucky enough to have sauces made by Jamie himself including a pesto style sauce for the gnocchi and a Meditteranean vegetable sauce to combine with the tagliatelle. 


I can't wait to see what more amazing workshops I can head to in the community kitchen, and of course, I am eager to head back to Cin Cin again soon to try out more of Jamie's beautiful flavours and techniques. 


Did you see my last post? I hosted my second blogger event and this time it was an evening event at the beautiful Plotting Parlour. Read all about it here.

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