My husband and I love a good date night. Sadly, since having our daughter two years ago, it’s been much more difficult to find the time to make them happen. I really make sure to prioritize our relationship and am constantly on the hunt for cool things we can do as a couple or even as a part of a double date or small group!
When I discovered the FIND experiences, by World of Hyatt, I was thrilled. FIND is a collection of curated experiences to help you discover new parts of the world and of yourself. These experiences range from culinary, to fitness and wellness activities and they even have outdoor adventures, tours and explorations. There really is something for every personality and style.
To gain access to the FIND experiences, all you have to do is sign up to become a World of Hyatt member. It’s completely free and SO worth it. If you already are a member, you can earn points for your experiences or use your points to book experiences.
I decided to book the Amalfi Pasta Making Class. I love that I could do this experience at home (yay no babysitter) and knew it would be something my husband would love. I actually wanted it to be a surprise and didn’t tell him about it beforehand. You should have seen his face when he walked in the house after work and saw a professional chef in our kitchen! Priceless!
Chef Aram was the teacher for my class and he arrived at my door with all the ingredients and tools needed to make his homemade orecchiette.
He even came with a few appetizers for us to nosh on while we were getting set-up! What I loved most about the Chef was the recipe he taught us required no kitchen tools other than a knife (something everyone has). I had no idea you could make fresh pasta just using your hands!
This was the orecchiette dish we ended up making! It was SO delicious.
I’ve been told sharing is caring, so I wanted to share this recipe (as best I could) with you below. Forming the pasta is a little hard to explain in writing. I highly recommend you book this experience to get the hands on demo!
Here is the recipe:
What You’ll Need
Semolina Flour
Water
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
2 Onions, diced
3 Tomatoes, diced
3 Zucchini, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Sprigs of Rosemary, chopped fine
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup cream
Crispy Prosciutto and Grana Padanao Cheese (for topping if you’d like)
What You’ll Do
1. Begin with a pile (about 3/4 cup) of flour and make a well in the center. Add a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Slowly add some water in (one tablespoon at a time). Use your fingers to mix the water and flour. You do not want to add the water too fast or have it become too sticky.
2. Once the dough becomes a nice ball, break it into 3 or 4 equal parts and roll them into long tubes. Then cut them (like gnocchi) into 1/2 inch thick pieces.
3. Next you have to form the orecchiette! This part is hard to explain in writing (and why you should totally just book the class so you can see it being done). Basically, you want to take a butter knife with the blade away from you, flatten the small cube of dough until it curls around the knife. Then flip it onto your thumb to make the shape.
4. Once all the pasta is formed, let it dry out (about 20 minutes) and start your sauce. In a large pot, add the diced onion and cook it 3-5 minutes until it sweated. From there add garlic and rosemary and allow to sautee until aeromatic.
5. Next add the diced tomato and zucchini. Deglaze with some white wine and then cover the pot with lid and let cook for 15 minutes or until the veggies have broken down. Once broken down, add about a 1/2 cup of heavy cream and mix evenly.
6. While sauce is breaking down, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Once roaring, add in your fresh pasta. Cook until they float. Strain (reserve 1/4 cup of the starchy cooking water to the side or just drop the pasta right into the sauce).
7. Mix well, top with parmesan cheese and enjoy! We had some extra prosciutto from our appetizers laying around, so chef crisped it up and we used it on top.
After we cooked, it was time to enjoy (while the chef cleaned up)! Not only did the dish turn out incredible, but we seriously had a blast cooking and eating together.
The best part of the class was it was super approachable. It wasn’t overly fancy so there was no intimidation in the kitchen. Honestly, the whole experience with Chef Aram felt more like friends hanging out as opposed to a strict class which in my opinion is so much more enjoyable and much more of an experience.
This experience made me so happy to be a World of Hyatt member. If you aren’t I highly recommend it.
This may have been our first FIND experience but it definitely won’t be our last.
I may even let Dan pick the next one, maybe…
Love always,
Erica
I loved seeing this on Instagram, as a Hyatt employee, I love seeing the new ideas come to life! Such a great afternoon lunch idea!
🍝💓🦄
@thecarle
You’re seriously the best Erica. Following you brings me the best food recipes, new experiences, and laugh worthy moments. Thank you for being you! (IG: mikaelammm) ❤️
This sounds amazing and everything looks so delicious. I love when you share recipes with us! Date night is my favorite, you might have given me an idea for our next one ❤️
@k_murray12
Such a fun venture for Hyatt to offer, and thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ll have to bookmark this for another snow day.
Insta: @ashleyhrabe
Looks so fun! Love the pics.
MUST make this soon.! It seems so easy and delish! @fitnasty.laz
It’s so cool that you got to bring date night home!
This looks so fun!!! .. IG livin_la_vida_mama
This looks so fun! I want to try out this experience! Ig amyw2221
This looks so yummy! Definitely going to give it a try!
Love fresh pasta! 🦄🧀
That pasta looks amazing! I love that you included how to make it! (brianamelter) instagram name.
Love to see Dan getting more involved! Great afternoon at home. – @iamashantis
This is so fun!! I can’t wait to make some homemade pasta now! 🍝
It’s so cool that you got to bring date night home!
Love this @guacamolly_21191
Can wait to do this as a date night with my hubby!! Such a fun new learning experience! Insta handle jenna_melendezz
I can’t wait to try this recipe! It looks delicious 🙂 insta: @samgradz
I seriously love all of the food ideas. I get from you!! My favorite influencer by far!
I’m a Hyatt member and didn’t realize what the membership offers. I can’t wait to look into what fun opportunities there are for my husband and I. Thanks for sharing! Also the pasta looks so yummy😋🦄🍕
Love this! Definitely going to try it out! @claudiapreslee
This looks so good!
This looks so good and super easy!
This looked like so much fun! I need to try this recipe asap.
_melificent
That looks delish! I love that you surprised hubby with this cute date. Can’t believe I hadn’t heard of these FIND experiences!! 😋🧀
This looks so fun!!! I’m going to have to make this recipe this weekend. Always looking for ways to mix things up. Definitely going to have to sign up and try something like this. And I’m going to have to recommend this to one of our friends that have a 6 month old. I know they haven’t been able to go out since she was born, so this would be a perfect double date to do with them! @anmason92
Yum! I love homemade pasta. I am going to have to try this recipe. My boyfriend and I always cook together on our day of and this looks like a fun recipe to try.
IG @sclavey
Oh my goodness, that sounds so delicious and fun! It’s so cool that you didn’t need any fancy equipment too! It’s been way too long since I’ve had homemade noodles! 🍝❤
– @_kiaranaomi_
Loved this! I’m dying at the pictures too😂😂
ww_shann19
Just signed up to be a World of Hyatt member! Can’t wait to try that recipe looks so delicious! (IG: corina_alfaro)
Yum!!
@mellahknee
This looks so fun! I’ll have to look into other experiences that Hyatt offers – they’d make such a fun Christmas gift! (@kennedynowicki)
This looked so yummy and such a great surprise for Dan!! Thanks for including the recipe…. might just get me to like zucchini! 😂
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Erica! I will definitely have to file it away for use in the near future. I have always wanted to attempt making fresh pasta! 🙂 @pilatespipettesandpb
Thanks for sharing the recipe, Erica! I will definitely have to file it away for use in the near future. I have always wanted to attempt making fresh pasta! 🙂 @pilatespipettesandpb
Thank you for the recipe! I’ll definitely be looking into the Hyatt FIND Experiences .
@lisamarie_tiu 🦄
This looks so yummy! I love pasta! It looked like so much fun when you and your husband were making the pasta.
Love this and totally want to do this one day or night! @chachi1288
omg! I am so glad you posted the deets on this because I am sooooo going to make these dishes! I remember drooling when I first saw your IG stories! This was such a cute date night and I will definitely be following your lead! Thank you for all the great food inspo and well great everything!! xoxo! ❤️❤️
IG: jenmatthews18