To continue on my eating odyssey here in Rome, we decided to take a cooking class. We were met at 9 a.m by our chef and driver Monique. She drove us to the small medieval village of Mazzano Romano about one hour from Rome where we shopped for our dinner as well as went to a garden to pick fresh produce.
We arrived at the apartment of her boss chef Fabio and began chopping all the vegetables--zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes. The butcher had already deboned, skinned and pounded the chicken we would need. We then made balls of flour and water which we would use later to make the pasta.
Bread was toasted and tomatoes and basil mixed with some olive oil and salt were placed on top for bruschetta. Then we stuffed zucchini flowers with mozzerella and anchovies and then lightly battered and fried them to make the crispetti my Grandmother used to make. Then we took the time to eat our antipasta with some white wine.
We took some of the pasta balls and cut them in half and then rolled them like a long stick. We then cut them in tiny pieces and then flattened and curved them into cavetelli. We cooked more tomatoes and the eggplant for the sauce for the cavetelli.
Then we used a rolling pin and pasta machine to flatten out the dough for ravioli stuff with cooked zucchini and riccota mixed with one egg yolk. We used the egg white to keep the edges of the ravioli together. We made a butter and sage sauce for these noodles.
We made a marinade of balsamic vinegar, apple vinegar, cane sugar and seasonings for the chicken and then cooked the chicken later on the stove for about 20 minutes. We also had potatoes we cut and cooked in the oven with rosemary and olive oil.
We ended with peaches tossed with sugar and white wine along with some cantaloupe.
The food was fantastic, the views were spectacular and the people were fascinating. All in all a good birthday except I did not have all the rest of you here with me to share in this experience.
We arrived at the apartment of her boss chef Fabio and began chopping all the vegetables--zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes. The butcher had already deboned, skinned and pounded the chicken we would need. We then made balls of flour and water which we would use later to make the pasta.
Bread was toasted and tomatoes and basil mixed with some olive oil and salt were placed on top for bruschetta. Then we stuffed zucchini flowers with mozzerella and anchovies and then lightly battered and fried them to make the crispetti my Grandmother used to make. Then we took the time to eat our antipasta with some white wine.
We took some of the pasta balls and cut them in half and then rolled them like a long stick. We then cut them in tiny pieces and then flattened and curved them into cavetelli. We cooked more tomatoes and the eggplant for the sauce for the cavetelli.
Then we used a rolling pin and pasta machine to flatten out the dough for ravioli stuff with cooked zucchini and riccota mixed with one egg yolk. We used the egg white to keep the edges of the ravioli together. We made a butter and sage sauce for these noodles.
We made a marinade of balsamic vinegar, apple vinegar, cane sugar and seasonings for the chicken and then cooked the chicken later on the stove for about 20 minutes. We also had potatoes we cut and cooked in the oven with rosemary and olive oil.
We ended with peaches tossed with sugar and white wine along with some cantaloupe.
The food was fantastic, the views were spectacular and the people were fascinating. All in all a good birthday except I did not have all the rest of you here with me to share in this experience.
Oh to be in Italia... your food descriptions make my mouth water - isn't it amazing how much food they prepare??? All deliciosa of course. Happy belated to you... Liz & I just got back from Baltimore. Glad to see you took a cooking course on your big day - can't wait to taste what you've learned! Happy travels!
ReplyDelete