Day 5 Umbrian Appetites: cooking class No. 3

You might be wondering if I am sick of cooking classes yet but the genuine answer is no because they are all so different. It is not just about the differences between recipes but it is also about the different settings we find ourselves in. This particular cooking class, Casa Gola in Bevanga, was again in a private home with so much character and charm. We cooked and prepared in two different locations in the garden, as well as in the house. Even their approach to the format of the class was different and this allowed us plenty of time to appreciate their unique garden setting.

Let's start with the menu:

Panzanella (bread salad)

Frittata con verdure di stagione( Frittata with seasonal veg)

Tagliatelle con pomodoro fresco e basilica e purea di zucchine ( Tagliatelle with fresh tomato and basil sauce with zucchini purée)

Zucchine ripene ( stuffed zucchinis)

NB:   Just in case you've spotted a theme, we are cooking and eating a great deal of zucchinis!)

Coppette di crema con sfogliatine e fragole (custard cups with puff pastry and strawberries 

For a lunch cooking class we began quite early at 10.00am. Now I know what you might be thinking .... Surely this is not early for lunch but by Italian standards this is early given that lunch is usually served around 2pm. We were pleasantly surprised that the pace of this lesson was very civilised. Coffee came first, sitting under the shade of tree, accompanied by homemade wine biscotti and local chocolates. Did you know that the Bacci brand of chocolate is made in Umbria?

After coffee we began the preparation for the dessert; a lovely egg custard flavoured with lemon rind and a stick of cinnamon. This was a nice alternative to the more usual vanilla.

In this photo I am using my very best stirring technique. Apparently tradition states that you must only stir in one direction or you will make 'crazy custard'. Boy, did I have to concentrate not to ruin the dessert. Below is Tony backing up again with quality control.

He has always loved scraping out the custard pot and saw no reason not to do this in the middle of a cooking class! Note that this kitchen is an outdoor room equipped with modern appliances. Perhaps I might like one of these at home! Continuing the garden theme, we prepared most of the fruits and vegetables in the outdoor prep area. This was charming and equipped with an outdoor pizza/bread oven.

It was such a hot day but we were perfectly shaded in this outdoor workspace. To avoid heat stress and to continue the relaxed, hospitable atmosphere we took a break on the verandah to enjoy some chilled vino bianco with homemade breads filled with cured meats and silverbeet. 

For me, the pasta was again the highlight. This time it was egg pasta. We began with 2 eggs each and added enough flour to form a dough. There was no water added, no oil, no salt, just eggs and 00 flour. It was then considerably kneaded until it was smooth and elastic. To test the dough you lightly press with your finger and the dough is ready for resting when it effectively 'bounces back'. This pasta is the closest so far to what I have been attempting to make at home. I have always rested my dough in the fridge. Wrong; just wrap in glad wrap, leave on the bench and prepare something else for a while.

Later we rolled the dough very thinly. You can be quite generous with the flour when rolling as the pasta dough stops absorbing flour at this stage. I now realise that I have been too sparing at this stage with flour. We rolled it thin enough that we could easily see the wood grain from the boards underneath. At this point we left the dough again to dry out a little more, perhaps 20 minutes. Upon returning we sprinkled with more flour and rolled it loosely (about 3cm wide) from both edges until it met in the middle and then flipped it over. Using a knife we cut 3mm slices, then ran our fingers through the silky strands, adding more flour to prevent sticking, and placed it on a drying rack.

At this stage the pasta can be cooked straight away or it can wait until you are ready. Don't be afraid to add more flour to prevent the strands sticking together. Whilst you can air dry pasta forming it onto serving sized bundles and freezing is also a good alternative. With drying you have to be absolutely sure that the pasta is completely dry to avoid mould forming.

The final product was delicious. It was served with a fresh tomatoe sauce that had bee puréed and sieved. For extra pizazz we made a zucchini purée with basil to spread on the plate first. This is a very clever idea because the zucchini takes on the basil flavour so you effectively have a velvety basil sauce without all the oil of a pesto.

I won't dwell on the details of the other recipes, I'll just focus for now on my rather obvious pasta obsession. For other recipes, feel free to ask and I am happy to oblige.

Food tips (non-pasta ones for a change):

1. When we made the meatball mixture, which was also used to stuff the zucchinis, we added grated lemon rind and grated nutmeg. Both were great but I will definitely be adding lemon zest to hamburgers, meatballs, etc from now on.

2. Italians like to make croutons by drying cubes of bread out in the sun. The end product is a lovely dry and crunchy crouton without the addition of oil or the use of a frypan or oven.

It is possible that my blogs are getting longer, maybe even too long, but there is so much food to talk about. At the risk of going on too much I won't even mention the lovely seafood risotto we enjoyed at dinner time. Instead I will simply sign off with a happy snap of the cooking team and wish you 'Happy Cooking'.