A couple of blog housekeeping bits first:
1. I have changed my settings so hopefully anyone who wants to leave a comment can.
2. I am progressively going back to my Scotland blogs and adding more detail. You might remember that I didn't have a clue about blogging back then and also that Google was making my life difficult once I left Australia. I will be adding lots more detail and more photos.
And now for yesterday and our first cooking class (yes, I am still a day behind).
Yesterday's cooking class was an absolute trip highlight. It was awesome! We went to another Agriturismo in the medieval town of Montefalco (Panbuffetti) to cook with Chef Alessandra Angelucci in a 'proper' industrial kitchen, equipped with marble bench tops, lots of stainless steel, huge frypans, the longest wooden spoons I've ever seen and chef's knives that were almost too heavy to manage. But what fun we had.
Here is the full list of the dishes we made, and we really did 'make' them:
1. Pizza dough and then from this we made ricotta and prosciutto calzone, vegetable pizza, tomato pizza and rosemary focaccia.
2. Grissini bread sticks with different flavourings, eg, rosemary, sultana, chocolate.
3. Roasted assorted vegetables with a tasty crumb topping ( that I have described before). I am definitely going to make vegetables like this at home.
4. Pasta dough which we formed into a shape, not unlike tagliatelle but it was actually called Strangozzi. Pasta types are very regional and some that might seem similar to us have quite different names in different villages. We made an Arrabbiata sauce, which is really just a fancy name for a homemade tomato sauce with some chilli kick.
5. We also made Pollo alla cacciatore (chicken with tomatoes and herbs); the Italain name sounds so much tastier.
6. Of course there was dessert; Rocciata (or Olive Oil Strudel).
7. Next came Ciambelline al vino e olio (or oil and wine biscuits).
8. We are nearly there. What Italian meal would be complete without Chocolate Biscotti? We dipped this into luscious Italian fortified dessert wine. Who could resist? Not me!
If you are wondering what we did with all this food ..........
...... We had lunch!
Five of us made the above feast. Credit must go to Alessandra for her supreme organisation in managing 5 'first day apprentices'. She managed to teach us so much, keep us busy all of the time, juggle so many dishes in the oven at once and keep smiling and laughing. Her English was excellent and she was very obliging when it came to answering our questions. The reason there are so few preparation photos (or evidence of our skills) is because we were either far too busy cooking or our hands were covered in flour/dough.
Here are the biscuits to dip in your next 'sticky' vino:
This was almost a totally authentic experience. At the end of the cooking class (probably 3 hours later) we simply moved out to the garden for lunch and left all of the dishes behind! This is my kind of authentic!
Some cooking tips to share:
1. Pasta dough that is not to be filled should be quite dry. After rolling it out into thin sheets we left it to dry on tablecloths for about 45 minutes before cutting it. To cut, we sprinkled flour over the sheets, rolled them up, then cut thin slices; a lot like cutting a Swiss roll (only much thinner). You can simply run your fingers through the strands of pasta to separate them. They can now be cooked immediately.
2. Try cocoa powder when next cooking with apples. When I tasted the strudel it took me quite some time to remember that we had added cocoa powder. If you get the quantity right it adds a new dimension to apples. The pine nuts helped keep the sweetness in check.
3. Use the bench next time you mix dough. This saves washing up bowls and it is so therapeutic. Just make a circular 'wall' of flour and put the other ingredients in the middle. It is not an exact science so first incorporate the wet ingredients with your fingers, then slowly incorporate the flour from your 'wall'. Don't feel you have to use all the flour, just push it aside when your dough is perfect or use it for the kneading.
4. It would seem that the liquid component of pasta varies according to different family recipes and the purpose of the pasta, eg, filled or unfilled. The one we made contained a small amount of egg white ( 3 egg whites to 600g flour) and water and was quite a firm dough. My intention is to use less eggs and opt for a firmer consistency and when I do use whole eggs ( for a richer pasta or to fill it) to dry it for longer and use more flour when cutting. I have reached the conclusion that there is no right or wrong way to make pasta. There is no magic recipe. There is no one size fits all. It is a matter of finding the right blend to suit your own taste. This will be my mission and there will be lots of pasta eating before I find the right blend.
5. When cooking pizza, cook the topping almost completely, then remove it from the oven, add the mozzarella at this stage and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
6. When roasting vegetables, eg, onions and capsicums, boil them first to reduce the astringency, then bake. Whole, peeled onions need about 15-20 minutes. This makes them sweeter when they are baked, as well as reducing cooking time. The capsicums took only about 7 minutes.
7. Stock up on olive oil. You're going to need the whole bottle!
After a successful cooking day we trundled back down the hill to our accommodation in about 33 degrees heat. It was time for a swim before dinner!
Before I ramble on about more food you might like to see where we have breakfast and dinner:
After a perfect day, I wandered down the garden in the dark to admire my very first fireflies. What more could you want?
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