Now I know how congressmen feel: making sausage

Pasta poured forth in the Culinary Foundations III classroom kitchen today, along with a half-dozen versions of link sausage.

At our station, we encased two kinds of the cured meat -- Swedish potato sausage and andouille. Both were delicious, and there was enough to take home. (Photo shows the Swedish potato sausage in the lower left, the andouille in the upper right.)

We also jammed through the making of three pasta dishes in 90 minutes, using freshly made pasta and other ingredients.

First was butternut squash and ricotta ravioli, fried and served with a marinara sauce. I had made that very sauce the night before at home, so I knew that getting it on the stovetop early to intensify the flavors was the key.

Second was fettucini served with a parsley pesto and one link of the andouilli that had been blanched and sautéed with onions and red bell pepper.

Third was pappardella -- 3/4-inch wide pasta noodles -- served with a mushroom cream sauce and sauté of chicken.

The action was hectic, almost frantic, in getting the dishes plated on schedule. Each had its special elements and flavors, and each was completed with satisfaction.

Starch week continues: Pasta, pasta, pasta

Spud Monday gave way to pasta Tuesday in Culinary Foundations II, as we made pasta -- literally.

Chef Dan Fluharty demonstrated (at right) making pasta dough from the basics -- eggs and bread flour -- and then finished it it into several kinds of pasta. Included were half-inch wide ribbon pasta known as pappardella and raviolis stuffed with a ricotta cheese and spinach filling.

Every class member made a five-egg, three-cup-of-flour ball of dough (left), kneading it in preparation for turning it into various kinds of pasta in Wednesday's class. We also worked on the stuffings and on a pesto sauce, very similar to one I have made at home on many occasions.