October in Athens, Ohio should be spelled P-I-Z-Z-A. In fact this is the simple reason I wasn’t able to commit to proofing and firing as many breads as I usually do. We love our late night (correction…early morning,) pizza customers. They sometimes pass out before the pizzas arrive but are right on the mark with many intriguing topping combinations.

John Ivanek was a stellar bread maker/seller on this fine day.

Despite the rush, I’d like to thank the guy who called consistantly from 4:15 until his last call at 6:10! Now that was some dedication to ordering a pizza. Each call consisted of a tooth-gnashing minumum of 13 rings, some reached upwards of 20 rings. I salute you!

The gorgonzola, pear, arugula, Prosciutto di Parma was a big hit with my gooey balsamic glaze.

I put more local spelt flour in the Flintstone wheels and ciabatta this week because…it tastes better. This week also, Matt Starline of Starline organics turned me on to some really fresh ground organic rye which I paired with caraway seeds, roasted garlic and sundried tomato.

Chef Kenny Shooley, helped alot and wasn’t as annoying as most chefs tend to be.

These La Manchia pizzas were an especially nice taste treat that sold well. Manchego cheese atop spinch with late season heirloom tomato, chilantro, onion, green pepper and topped with a little fresh mozzarella.

We still have access to an amazing amount of fresh, organic vegetables here in Athens which equates to some bodacious pizzas. I pair them with the beautiful Valarossa tomatoes from Stanislaus like the Foccocia Siciliana (right.)

I failed to mention that the opening mushroom schiacciata has Fontina cheese on it as well as thyme, garlic and black truffle oil. The first ladder bread with cilantro, corn and pablano’s also includes some fab chorizo that I made with local King Family Pork. Yum.
                                                              

Just a few weeks ago, my uber-chef (and General Manager of Avalanche Pizza) Joel Fair and I enjoyed a hot afternoon at Junior Chefs School run by the fabulous Sarah Conley-Warbler and Kip Parker, manager of the Athens Farmers Market. This is a monthly school set up for local kids to learn from different chefs in the area (and even from pizza guys.)  Our target on this day was pasta, or as I like to call it “Eggy pizza dough that takes a dip in a Turkish bath.” (That tagline hasn’t quite caught on yet.)

First we made a well of of ONE CUP OF FLOUR AND CRACKED TWO EGGS IN IT.

We had made some examples of pasta including Taglioline, gargonelli, fettucini, squid ink and saffron carmelli, Rigatoni etc.

These kids were great learners and wonderful to work with. They caught on beautifully and, with the direction of Sarah, mastered the art of pasta.

 Then we passed the pasta dough through an Italian Pasta Machine to make it thin.

Cutting the pasta into Linguine and Fettuchini was done with the pasta machine and a Ciatarra, an italian metal-stringed intrument especially designed for making pasta.

That’s the ciatarra at the bottom of the above picture.

 Some junior chefs made some very long fettuchini that stretched almost three feet long.

 We were ready with food to add to our fresh pasta like (Clockwise from left) Integration Acres goat feta, local pattypan squash, local Bordeaux spinach from Rich Organic Gardens, imported Parmigiano Reggiano and at the bottom some Bottarga di Muggine, or salted and flattened grey mullet roe from Sardinia which tastes just like Beluga Caviar and is heaven atop pasta.

 Local tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil was the favorite with extra virgin olive oil and salt.

 Thanks to Kip Parker and his pasta rig,  we were able to cook a tremendous amount of pasta “ala minute.”

 The kids ate so much, Joel and I had to scramble to make more for the vendors at the market.

 It was so rewarding to see the abundant smiles of the self-made pasta makers as they slurped away. Thank you Sarah Conley, Kip Parker and all the Junior Chefs.

This kids pasta recipe is simple,  straightfoward, easy to remember and it works!

1 cup flour  (with a little more reserved on the side)

Two eggs

Pinch salt

Make a well in the middle of the pile of flour on a strong, smooth countertop. Add salt. Break the eggs into the well and using the fingertips of your best hand (hand #1), break the yolks and mix with the whites and circle the fingers slowly in a small circle. Using the other hand like a “Karate Chop” (hand #2) or a dough scraper push little amounts of the flour into the middle of the well and keep mixing around and around with fingers of hand #1.

DO NOT “FLICK” YOU FINGERS OR YOU WILL “FLING” FLOUR OUTSIDE THE OPERATING AREA.

Keep going around in a small circle in the middle of the well and incorporating the flour with the help of the Karate hand. Use the Karate (#2) to keep all the flour in a small an area as possible.

Take your time as the flour and dough will seem to not combine. Keep going pushing the flour and dough together, as the chunk gets harder use hand #1 to grip the mass like a baseball and squeeze, then push against the table picking up all the loose flour.  Take both  hands and rub together slowly to drop all the loose pasta and push into the ball.

The pasta should be formed in a hocky puck so keep folding the dough over and over. If it is too dry add a very small amount of water, if too wet add small amount of flour.

Once hocky puck is formed put it in saran wrap for at least 30 minutes to let the gluten strands rest.

After it has rested, it is time to roll the dough with a pasta roller of with a rolling pin.