At Urbana, learn to make pasta like the pros

Ethan McKee, executive chef at Urbana, puts puts the finishing touches on a plate of fresh pasta. (Courtesy Urbana) — Ethan McKee, executive chef at Urbana, puts the finishing touches on a plate of fresh pasta. Starting Oct. 8, McKee will launch a second year of cooking demonstrations at the Italian restaurant in Dupont Circle. (Courtesy Urbana)

Executive Chef聽Ethan McKee rolls out sheets of fresh pasta at Urbana.聽Every day, McKee makes between six to eight different types of fresh pasta for Urbana鈥檚 menu 鈥� from bucatini to tagliatelle to ravioli. And this month, he鈥檚 preparing to teach the public how to do the same. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

McKee says homemade pasta is easy to make at home. All you need is eggs and flour, plus a fork and a rolling pin. If you want to upgrade to a pasta machine (pictured), you can find a decent one for about $40 at most cooking stores. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

A common mistake people make when making homemade pasta is not rolling the dough thin enough.聽McKee says you want to get it to the point where it’s almost see-through. If you’re stuffing the pasta, don’t worry about it tearing. He says each time the pasta is rolled through the machine, the gluten strengthens it. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

McKee fills his pasta with a mixture of sheep鈥檚-milk ricotta and Swiss chard, cut from the restaurant’s rooftop garden. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

He makes a line of filling down the sheet of pasta, then paints a line of egg parallel to the filling. This helps to hold the pasta dough together when it is folded over. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

To make聽agnolotti, McKee pinches off pieces of the filled pasta and then folds it over before cutting it. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

McKee聽holds up the final product: a small pocket-like pasta called agnolotti. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

On Oct. 8, Urbana is launching its second cooking demo series. In classes capped at 14, McKee will teach participants how to make seasonal Italian classics, such as gemelli with taleggio cream and pancetta, and polenta with roasted quail, house-made pancetta and figs.聽The end goal, McKee says, is to equip participants with the confidence they need to make pasta in their own kitchens. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

The rooftop garden at the Hotel Palomar聽in Dupont Circle. McKee uses what he grows in the restaurant’s kitchen. Last year, he says the garden gave him nearly 500 pounds of basil. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of the goal with the ingredients up here: I want to be able to just say, 鈥楨verything we use in the restaurant, we grew 100 percent,鈥� instead of just having it as a supplement,” McKee said.聽 (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

Kale growing on the rooftop garden at聽the Hotel Palomar聽in Dupont Circle. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

Lettuces growing on the rooftop garden at聽the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle. (WTOP/Rachel Nania)

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WASHINGTON 鈥� Ethan McKee holds up a piping bag filled with sheep’s-milk ricotta and Swiss chard, which he just cut from the rooftop garden at the 聽in Dupont Circle.

鈥淭raditionally, this shape has a meat filling, like a veal filling, but we do a lot of different things with vegetables here,鈥� said聽McKee, the executive chef at inside the Palomar.

鈥淣owadays, there鈥檚 a big trend toward that and we try to utilize as much as we can from the garden upstairs.鈥�

McKee pipes the cheesy mixture onto a thin sheet of fresh pasta dough. Then, after a series of pinches, folds and cuts, he holds up the final product: a small pocket-like pasta called agnolotti. 聽

鈥淭his looks like it鈥檚 an opening, but actually it鈥檚 sealed on the inside there, so that kind of catches the sauce,鈥� McKee said, pointing to the pasta鈥檚 signature flap.

Every day, McKee makes between six to eight different types of fresh pasta for Urbana鈥檚 menu 鈥� from bucatini to tagliatelle to ravioli. And this month, he鈥檚 teaching聽the public how to do the same.

On Oct. 8, Urbana is launching its second cooking demo series. In classes capped at 14, McKee will teach participants how to make seasonal Italian classics, such as gemelli with taleggio cream and pancetta, and polenta with roasted quail, house-made pancetta and figs.

Each month through June 2017, McKee will focus his instruction on a different Italian region (like fall harvest in Lombardia and summer in Sicily) or tradition (Feast of Seven Fishes and Italian-style comfort food). And no matter the theme, pasta will spend time in the spotlight.

鈥淓specially going into cooler weather like right now, where you want more of that comfort food, just having rich flavors and textures with fresh egg pasta, you can鈥檛 beat it. There鈥檚 just no comparison,鈥� he said.

In each class, held twice a month, McKee will demonstrate three different dishes, spending about 30 minutes on each. Those enrolled will have the opportunity to get their hands dirty in the kitchen with McKee and ask questions throughout. Of course, they鈥檒l also be able to sip on wine and taste the end product.

The end goal, McKee says, is to equip participants with the confidence they need to make pasta in their own kitchens.

鈥淚 think now people really want to know how to cook at home and use local ingredients and cook from scratch,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e give out recipes, and all you need to have to make [pasta] is basically a fork and a rolling pin.鈥�

And a little bit of guidance.

Classes are $55 per person and reservations can be made via email at abbe.gould@urbanadc.com.