Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!

Today

Pasta, Day 3!

Wow--so much pasta! It was nice today though because while some of the pastas themselves were heavier than others, the sauces were simple and light(er than last week) so I don't feel like I am going to explode...entirely.

So now that I've learned the basic technique of making pasta: flour and egg, we learned some variations.

1. Tagiatelle di Kamut, vaolo croccante, oli al pistacchio (Tagiatelle of Kamut, Crunchy cabbage and pistachio oil)
   - pasta made with kamut--a finer wheat that is higher in protein--topped with cabbage, potatoes, pine nuts and pistachio oil. My favorite part of this dish was the crispy cabbage leaf we served it with. We peeled off a few layers of cabbage leaves, blanched them, and then baked them in the oven. They became crispy and chip-like...without the frying! Yum :)
2. Marcella's Pasta e fagioli
   - inspired by Minestra di Fagioli Bortolli (red bean soup), this pasta is made with both flour and pureed beans. The dough is a bit more crumbly than regular pasta dough because when using beans, gluten does not form as easily (less sticky and elastic dough). For this dish, we split the pasta into two batches--one we cooked the in boiling water, and the other half we fried in peanut oil to add as a contrasting crunch to the mushiness of the boiled pasta. We tossed the boiled pasta in olive oil, garlic and sage, then topped with the crunchy pasta
3. Orecchiette pugliesi with broccoli
   -regular, light pasta (wheat and water) cooked with brocolli, olive oil, shallot and various spices. Orecchiette is the name of the shape of pasta. It is a pasta typical of Southerin Italy (Puglia), which comes from the word "orecchio" (ear) and "etto" (small).
4. Taggiatelle alle Nocciole in Salsa di Funghi (Hazlenut tagiatelle in Mushroom sauce)
   -This pasta is made with a lesser amount of flour than the usual proportion of flour to water, and the leftover is made up of ground hazelnut. I was really excited about this pasta because I love nutella and subsequently hazelnut, but the sauce was very strong (full of herbs), and overpowered the hazelnut flavor. It was delicious, but I will definitely experiment with milder sauces that allow the flavor of the pasta to shine through. I also want to try this as a pasta stuffed with chocolate, or with a chocolate sauce.
5. Pizzoccheri della Valtellina (short buckwheat noodles from Valtellina)
   -this pasta used half semolina (hard flour) and half buckwheat (a gluten-free flour). The dough is much more dense than regular pasta, and buckwheat has become a common substitute with the increasing presence of individuals with celiac disease (gluten intolerance). Although not 100% gluten free, this pasta has less gluten than the normal recipe. We boiled the pasta and prepared this in casserole form--mixed with potatoes and cabbage (typical of Northern Italy) and layered with cheese and baked in the oven. The top became crispy and the combination in flavors was very pleasant and wholesome--probably one of my favorites from the day.

Tagiatelle di Kamut, vaolo croccante, oli al pistacchio

Pasta e Fagioli

Preparing the crispy fagioli pasta

Orichiette pugliesi with broccoli

Taggiatelle alle Nocciole in Salsa di Funghi

Pizzoccheri della Valtellina

After class I came home and relaxed. I just painted my toenails for the first time in who knows how many years (I still had a speck of nail polish on my big toe from a pedicure with mom last summer in Ann Arbor). There is so much to do and see here in Firenze, I often forget that it's nice to just sit, read and relax--so today I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and fresh air :).

For dinner tonight we had the leftover pasta from class. It was fun to get to share it with my family here--they really enjoyed it!

Tomorrow Marcella has classes during the day so I am not going in until 5:00. The lesson is vegetables--YAAY I MISS VEGETABLES! We are making eggplant parmesan, among other things... so I am really looking forward to that. Even though class isn't until the evening, I still plan on getting up at a reasonable hour to get some museums and churches in during the day. I think I will visit the Mercato Centrale (which I usually miss because of class), Palazzo Vecchio and maybe Museo Galileo.

Photos of the Day:

PASTA!

left to right: hazelnut, buckwheat, kamut

top to bottom: kamut, fagioli, orecchiette

Lesson of the day:

Lunch conversation today was focused around open-mindedness and the ability to create, interpret and adapt.

With respect to cooking: these recipes are just the basics--I can adjust them in so many ways it's unbelievable. Depending on season and dietary restrictions, the dishes I am learning to make can be changed based on the skills I am learning and intuition I am building. In regards to my time here in Firenze, there is no schedule or even routine--I'm just going with the flow and seeing where life takes me. Maybe it's the summer-feeling, or maybe this is just Italy; whatever it is, I like it :)

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 29

Pasta dishes eaten: 17

Photos taken: 1006