Have a love for pasta? Wish you could have freshly made pasta anytime you want?
Well, we have good news for all you pasta lovers: now you can learn to make fresh fettuccine, ravioli, gnocchi and authentic Italian sauces by booking a class with PastaNooga.
Owner Debi Toews has been hand-making pasta for over 40 years now. She welcomes small intimate groups to her commercial style kitchen at her home in Signal Mountain and shares the art of making pasta the same way she learned it while living in Italy.
“My dad was in the military,” she said. “He was stationed at Aviano Air Force Base. Back in the mid 1980’s through 1990’s it was a small base. There was no base housing, like they have now, so we lived within the Italian community.”
The town of Aviano is situated in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy, near the Dolomites Mountain range and 54 miles northwest of Venice.
“We lived in an apartment and my neighbor next door; I used I spent a lot of time with her,” she said. Debi said her neighbor, Giuliana, made fresh pasta daily. She said the entire community consumed fresh-made pasta nearly 365 days of the year, yet everyone was skinny. One day Giuliana told her that if she was going to be in her kitchen, she was going to have to learn and help make the pasta.
And that’s how it started.
Debi’s husband Mike was also stationed at Aviano Air Force Base. Italy is where they met each other. The couple got married in the United States but remained in Italy for a while. When they relocated to Signal Mountain, the couple built their home from scratch.
“I loved cooking with my Italian neighbor Giuliana,” Debi said. “She inspired my love of cooking and the importance of sitting down for family dinners. Italians always put family first and that certainly continued in my family. I love my family and cooking for them is my love language. So, I knew I wanted a nice big kitchen, and big stoves. This way I can cook for our families and when my children come home every Sunday. I cook huge meals.”
Debi worked in the corporate sector before diving back into her passion for making pasta. At first, she started the pasta classes through Airbnb Experiences in 2019. She had to take 1 ½ years off due to Covid. In June of 2024 she launched her own website and PastaNooga, began to flourish.
“Had I known I would be teaching pasta, I probably would have done a few things differently for my kitchen, but we make it work.”
There are different classes, each taking about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Her basic pasta class is limited to four per class to ensure individual instruction and personalized experience.
“They’ll learn how to make pasta the old fashion way,” she said. “No machines because not everybody owns a fancy gadget.”
Debi said guests will learn how to mix the flour. Then they’ll learn how to knead the dough; let it rest and then use a hand crank pasta machine to make the fettuccine. While the dough is resting guests will learn how to make one of Giuliana’s classic Italian sauces.
The dough is enough to make one pound of fettuccini which the guests take home. The other pound of dough is used to make ravioli.
“And that's what they eat here with the freshly cooked sauce,” she said.
Another class teaches how to make gnocchi. Space is also limited to 4 per class. Afterwards the guests sit together to enjoy their meal.
There is also a children’s pasta making class open to ages 6-12. Classes include all the ingredients needed, all kitchen tools and pasta making equipment needed, and aprons are available, but guests can bring their own if they want.
Guests should wear comfortable shoes and clothes, since most of the time you’ll be standing. Water and tea will be provided with the meal, but guests can bring a bottle of wine. Be ready to get some hands-on training, eat a great meal and enjoy some camaraderie.
To learn more and book a class visit: pastanooga.com.