Learning 2 Speak & Cook in Italiano

Thank you, everyone, for your birthday wishes. I love birthdays, and last week I got to celebrate all week long in my "Speak and Cook" class at Lucca Italian School, which culminated in a degustazione of wine and olive oil 15 km east of Lucca at Fattoria del Teso and a robust round of "Happy Birthday" in Italian. We were surrounded by old French oak barrels that were used to age the fattoria's Vin Santo (a delicious dessert wine in which you dip cantucinni -- see the second menu below). Now they use stainless steel to produce consistent results, but the Vin Santo is still aged for 10 years! I am now a big fan of Vin Santo -- molto excellente.

But before the degustazione which fell on my birthday, we prepared two menus in our "Parla e Cucina Italiano" class (Speak and Cook) on two separate days in a fattoria 30 minutes north of Lucca in beautiful country.

Each menu required about three hours of cooking time (about 11 people participated including our chef, Eva, and her mother-in-law who stirred the pots and tidied up). Each class began by lifting our glasses to each other and crying, "Salute!" Then we went to work!

Menu I: Zucchini in carpaccio di limone e menta con scaglie di parmigiano/ zucchini carpaccio

             Ravioli ricotta e spinaci in salsa di burro e salvia/ ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach

             Pollo con limone e erbe aromatiche/ chicken with lemon and aromatic herbs

             Peperonata/ cooked peppers in tomato sauce

             Panna cotta con salsa di fragole/ cooked cream with strawberries sauce

Watching Eva demonstrate as we commenced each dish was incredibly fun. She compared herself to a pulpo (octopus) because her hands and arms are everywhere. I'm happy to report that I can now make homemade ravioli and tagliatelle (with the right Italian equipment and flour of course), although I cannot claim to be a pulpo (yet).

Eva in Action! Getting us started. Chicken and peppers simmering in their pots. Making raviolli. Finishing the panna cotta just before boiling the ravioli.

 

      

Two days after our first cooking spree, we prepared another delicious dinner.

Menu 2: Bruschetta di pomodoro e basilico/ bruschetta with tomato and basil

              Tagliatelle con zucchini, porro e zafferano/ tagliatelle with zucchini, leek and saffron

               Rotolo di tacchino ripieno con salsa di rosmarino, salvia e olive/ stuffed meat (pork) roll with           

                    rosemary and sage

               Insalata mista/ mixed salad greens

               Cantuccini col vin santo/ cantuccini (biscotti) with Vin Santo

I feel compelled to share a little secret of Eva's that we were shocked to discover. She added a little or alot (?) of butter to various dishes "when we weren't looking" and you certainly don't see butter listed in her recipes. Somewhere, a French chef is shaking her head, "Mon Dieu!"

Buon Appetito!