School Holidays Cooking Program - Workshop 9

Serving: 2

Preparation time: 120 minute

Execution time: 120 minute

Workshop 9: Sauce & Comfort

Thursday  ·  July Module

 

Scan to view this recipe online

 

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Workshop 9: Sauce & Comfort

Thursday  ·  July Module

Scan to view this recipe online

 

ENTRÉE

Creamy Pumpkin Soup (2 pax)

Ingredients

  • 300g pumpkin, peeled and diced
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp cream
  • 1 tsp butter or oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Pinch of nutmeg (optional)
  • Crusty bread, to serve

Method

Step 1:  Heat butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft.

Step 2:  Add the pumpkin and stock, and simmer 15–20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.

Step 3:  Blend until smooth.

Step 4:  Stir in the cream, and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Step 5:  Reheat gently and serve warm with bread.

 

MAIN

Fresh Egg Pasta

A simple hand-made egg pasta dough — the base for the puttanesca or carbonara. Amounts are per person; scale to your class size.

Ingredients (per person)

  • 95g plain (or ‘00’) flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tbsp olive oil

Method

Step 1:  Make a well — Mound the flour on a clean bench and make a well in the centre. Crack in the egg and add the oil.

Step 2:  Bring together — Beat the egg gently with a fork, drawing in flour from the walls until a shaggy dough forms, then bring it together by hand.

Step 3:  Knead — Knead firmly (about 8 minutes) until smooth, elastic and no longer sticky. Too dry, wet your hands; too wet, dust with flour.

Step 4:  Rest — Wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to relax the gluten so it rolls out easily.

Step 5:  Roll out — Halve, flatten, and roll thin — by hand or through a pasta machine, working down the settings — dusting with flour.

Step 6:  Cut — Lightly flour the sheet, fold loosely, and cut into ribbons (fettuccine or tagliatelle). Shake out and dust to keep separate.

Step 7:  Cook — Cook in salted boiling water until it floats and is just tender (2–3 minutes). Reserve a little pasta water before draining.

Note:  Fresh pasta needs a 30-minute rest and cooks in 2–3 minutes — make the dough first, then prep the sauces while it rests, and have the sauce ready before it goes in. Scale to 2 for the main (≈190g flour, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp oil). Fresh pasta replaces the dried spaghetti below.

 

Pasta — Puttanesca or Bacon Carbonara (your choice) (2 pax)

Option A · Puttanesca

Ingredients

  • 200g spaghetti (or the fresh pasta above)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 tin (400g) diced tomatoes
  • 6–8 olives, chopped
  • 1 tbsp capers
  • Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper, fresh parsley

Option B · Bacon Carbonara

Ingredients

  • 200g spaghetti (or the fresh pasta above)
  • 100g bacon, diced
  • 2 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
  • ⅓ cup grated parmesan
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

Step 1:  Puttanesca — Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente, drain and reserve a little pasta water.

Step 2:  Puttanesca — Heat oil, sauté garlic until fragrant, add tomatoes, olives and capers, and simmer 8–10 minutes.

Step 3:  Puttanesca — Toss through the pasta, loosening with pasta water if needed. Season and garnish with parsley.

Step 4:  Carbonara — Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and reserve pasta water. Fry the bacon until crisp.

Step 5:  Carbonara — Whisk the eggs and parmesan together.

Step 6:  Carbonara — Off the heat, toss the hot pasta with bacon, then quickly stir in the egg mixture and a splash of pasta water until creamy (don’t let it scramble). Season with pepper and serve immediately.

 

What you’ll learn today

  • Sweating aromatics — cooking onion and garlic gently to build a sweet, mellow base without browning.
  • Soup texture — simmering until tender, then blending smooth — and handling hot liquid in the blender safely.
  • Seasoning and finishing — balancing the soup with cream, salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg.
  • Making fresh pasta — mixing, kneading, resting and rolling an egg dough by hand, then cutting and cooking it fresh.
  • Cooking pasta — salted water, al dente, and saving pasta water to bring a sauce together.
  • Building a sauce (Puttanesca) — layering garlic, tomato, olives and capers into a punchy, savoury sauce.
  • Emulsion technique (Carbonara) — making a silky egg-and-parmesan sauce off the heat so it stays creamy, not scrambled.
  • Plating and timing — serving pasta straight away while it’s hot and glossy.
School Holidays Cooking Program - Workshop 9

Ingredients

Directions

School Holidays Cooking Program

School Holidays Cooking Program

If your dream is to work in a restaurant kitchen or you love the idea of honing your cooking skills, time management...

Duration 2.5 Hours

From AUD $149 Book now

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