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Cooking with Fire: Chicken and homemade pasta with the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District

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Published  August 22, 2024 9:08am CDT
Cooking with Fire
FOX 32 Chicago

Cooking with Fire: Gemelli pasta and chicken cutlets with Lisle Woodridge fire protection

This morning we're Cooking with Fire at the Lisle Woodridge Fire Protection District, making firefighter/paramedic Eric Spartz's Gemelli pasta with chicken cutlets.

LISLE, Ill. - This morning we're "Cooking with Fire" at the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District, making an incredible chicken and pasta dish with firefighter/paramedic Eric Spartz.  

This Saturday, the fire district is partnering with Lisle's North American Pizza and Culinary Academy for a night of comedy and dinner prepared by a Michelin-star chef. For tickets, click here.

Here is the recipe for Chicken and Homemade Pasta Dish:

Gemelli pasta: 

  • 1 dough ball that serves two people 
  • 2 cups of flour 
  • 1 egg 
  • 1/2 tbsp salt 
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup + 2tbsp warm water

Directions: 

  • Put the ingredients in a bowl. Combine with your hands until the dough consistency forms.  Use a tablespoon of water (one at a time) if the dough is too dry. Your dough shouldn't be too wet and shouldn't be too dry.  Once your dough ball is formed, knead that dough for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, make a nicely formed ball with that dough and cover it with a damp towel for 1 hour.

Making Gemelli: 

  • Flatten the dough on a clean, semolina flour surface. Use a pasta cutter or a knife to cut long strands of pasta that will resemble a long rectangular fettuccine type of noodle. When your individual strands are all cut. Take a strand of pasta between your hands and start to roll the pasta between your hands as if you were kindling fire and rolling a stick. You are now forming a long worm-like tube with this cut strand of pasta. Once you have a worm shape, make a U shape with that strand. Pinch the two lose ends together and pinch the bottom of the "U", then twist.  After all your strands are rolled and twisted, line the twisted pasta strands up and cut into one inch pasta pieces.

Basil Oil Sauce: 

  • Blend an entire bushel of basil with olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Mushrooms and Shallots: 

  • Before cooking pasta, prepare the mushrooms and shallots in oil on a hot pan.  
  • Add basil oil to your mushroom and shallot mixture and combine throughout.

Cook Pasta: 

  • Toss gemelli pasta in salted water and cook until the pasta starts floating to the top of your water, about 3 minutes.  Sift the pasta out of water and combine with the mushrooms, shallots and basil oil.

Homemade Pesto Genovese: 

  • 1 container of basil (1.25oz)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 40 grams pine nuts
  • 80 grams Parmesan
  • 100ml olive oil 
  • 1 squeeze of half a lemon 
  • Salt to taste

Place all ingredients into a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add additional olive oil while blending to achieve an ideal consistency.  

Breaded Chicken: 

  • Prepare chicken cutlets three hours before cooking or overnight. 
  • Brine in water, salt, sugar, rosemary, thyme and peppercorn.

Tenderize chicken breast into a thin cutlet. Dredge cutlets in flour, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. Then a beaten egg that's been salted.  Then your choice of store-bought or homemade bread crumbs. Fry the prepared and breaded cutlets in olive oil until golden brown on both sides.