To view all of my photos from my European adventures, please visit my Picasa albums: https://picasaweb.google.com/europeanbanana2011


For more information about Marcella Ansaldo and GiglioCooking school in Florence, visit www.gigliocooking.com


Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2011

Basta pasta

Today
EXPLOSION.
I got home from class, crawled into bed and couldn't move for 2 hours.

Class: colored pasta!
  • There was a couple from Washington (state) that joined me for class yesterday
  • They had never made pasta before so we reviewed a lot of the basics I had learned the first day, and I didn't get to be as hands on as usual because there were more people
Dishes
  • Tagliolini Neri alla Seppia Bianca (Black Narrow Noodles with White Cuttle Fish)
      • Inspired by the traditional dish: pasta with black ink sauce, made from squid ink, this dish instead incorporates the black squid ink into the pasta itself
      • The tagliolini were awesome--texture and flavor were unreal

Black ink pasta
    • Fazzoletti Verdi con Asparagi e Gamberetto (Green Handkerchieves stuffed with Asparagus and Shrimp)
        • We made the pasta green using spinach
        • I was disappointed that the spinach flavor wasn't stronger and I don't really like shrimp or asparagus
        • I didn't get asparagus pee though, so that was a plus!

    Spinach ravioli
    • Tagliatelle al Caffe' con Carciofi (Coffe Tagliatelle with Artichokes)
        • Who would've thought that coffee and artichoke go together? INCREDIBLE.

    Coffee tagliatelle with artichoke
    • Tagliolini Rossi con Zuicchini e Scamorza Affemicata (Red Tagliolini with Zucchini and Smoked Cheese)
        • We made the pasta red by adding pureed roasted red pepper to the traditional pasta dough
        • Baked in a parchment paper sleeve covered in sauteed zucchini and smoked cheese...om nom

    Red pepper tagliolini
    • Pasta all Lecitina di Soia (Basic Pasta with Soy Lecithin)
        • Soy lecithin is a cholesterol-lowering alternative to eggs that gave the final product a more grainy texture
        • It was different, but I enjoyed it
    Soy lecithin pasta

    Then, for dessert, we had a strawberry-lemon shortcake leftover from a previous class...EXPLOSION.

    Like I said, I spent the afternoon in bed unable to move. I had planned on going to the Bottanical Gardens but that will have to wait for another day. In the evening, the whole family went to a reception for Alyssa's school showcasing the artwork some students had been working on for the semester. Sarah Lawrence is a whole bunch of granolas. We drove to the reception which was weird--I hadn't been in a car in two weeks...and I was enjoying it. Manuela and I walked home, though, which was really nice. Language barriers are fun(ny), but she has much better English than she gives herself credit for.

    Lesson of the Day
    5 plates of pasta + dessert = WAY TOO MUCH FOOD.

    Photo of the Day
    Eye of the squid

    The Count
    Glasses of wine drinken: 30
    Pasta dishes eaten: 22
    Photos taken: 1263