Pasta Demo with Chef David Coleman

The other day I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my friend Chef David Coleman at Michael’s On Naples restaurant. He was gracious enough to offer to show me how they make pasta there. Sean Joosten came along to shoot some photos as well.

First off, let me say that Michael’s is a spectacular shop; the downstairs dining room is just big enough to seat enough people while still feeling cozy. Back of house was great. I loved the location of the walk-in just off the line, super convenient. The kitchen was just open enough to the dining room for my taste, sort of halfway between and traditional kitchen and an open one. The neighborhood itself is a bit on the sleepy side, good part is it seems like there is lots of parking. Chef Coleman took us upstairs to the rooftop lounge; it looks like an amazing place to spend a summer evening having a bite to eat or perhaps enjoying some beverages. He also gave me a sneak peek at the pizzeria they are opening next door; the oven had just been delivered from Italy. It looked all shiny and new, the flatbed truck was still out front too.

One thing that fascinates me about any kitchen is how it is suited for its purpose. From the cook shack at High Sierra Pack Station to the vast underground kitchens at Disneyland, I love seeing how they are set up for the type of cuisine they accommodate and the amount of people they serve. I had actually never been back of house at an Italian restaurant and was most fascinated by the pasta cooker, sort of a large traditional fryer filled with water instead of oil. There were a few small baskets in it to prepare the individual servings of pasta.

Chef Coleman and myself started off by cracking a separating 75 eggs, which he then dumped the yolks into a large stand mixer. For big runs like this it’s easier to do that than make it by hand like you probably would at home. He then added the semolina flour (he says Caputo is the best) and some salt. Then the magic happened. The mixture began to come together, stiff and kind of crumbly at first but then began to congeal into a cohesive mass. Like most other recipes, the amount of flour needed depends on a lot of the usual factors, temperature, humidity, moisture content of the flour, etc. It came out a little dry at first, I was blown away by how much the consistency then changed with the addition of just one more yolk. Done!

He then showed me how to roll it out with their machine. Embarrassingly, I had actually only done it once many, many years ago (I don’t build much fresh pasta at Vermilion!). We cut some nice ribbons of pappardelle (pasta about as thick as fettuccine an an inch wide). We then stuffed some Ravioli and Angolotti (a small packet-shaped stuffed pasta) with Ricotta and fresh herbs. We also spun up some tortellini, which was quite simple and created a really neat-looking product.

Then it was off to the kitchen! We sautéed some oxtail with olive oil, tomatoes, pine nuts, fresh herbs and tossed the percatelli with it. Hearty and spectacular! For the tortellini we did a simple sage, garlic and butter sauté, topped with some grated cheese and herbed bread crumbs, equally fantastic. It was great to learn about it from someone as knowledgeable as Chef Coleman, it’s much easier to learn from doing it than from reading from a cookbook!

Thanks to Chef Coleman, Sean Joosten and Michael’s for their time. It was really, really great.