Dinner & A Movie

AUR has a sweet deal with Chef Andrea, an Italian man who runs authentic cooking classes here in Roma. I signed up through Student Life and had an awesome experience totally worth 15 euros.

Chef Andrea gives AUR students such a great deal since he actually married a girl from here! So I guess finding an Italian man can happen... Too bad I promised my mom and dad I'd come home in May... He told us how he came to teach cooking classes to students like us while we waited for our homemade tomato sauce to cook! Mmm. With a passion for food and cooking, as well as an abundance of stories to go along with it, he was he began in a restaurant. A girl from John Cabot University insisted that he teach her to make his delicious rabbit dish [a normal food around here]. Apparently they spent the day cooking and she was so intrigued by him that she suggested he run cooking classes for the university. It took him days to work up the courage and he was almost turned away by the security guards, but a friend finally brought him to student life where he proposed his idea. After a trial run, they loved what he did and his business was born. He now has his own kitchen/dining room studio called "Cooking Classes in Rome" right here in Trastevere where he and his wife kindly give us college kids lessons on preparing authentic Italian cuisine. 

I had class until 6:40 so I had to go a little late. Getting a little lost on the way there [as usual] didn't help either. Nevertheless, I arrived, threw on an apron, washed my hands, and jumped right in. My first task was cutting the bread for the bruschetta. I'm not sure why, but the crust on the bread here is impossibly tough. Inside is usually soft, fluffy, and delicious, but the outside is seriously a brick. My hands seriously hurt after slicing through a whole loaf of the stuff. Next we had to grill it. At first it was a simple task, but we then discovered the heat was uneven all across the stove. It was seriously like a video game trying to flip all the pieces of bread at just the right time. I'd say it was a success as we only burnt four pieces [which I discreetly threw away...]. The topping was the best part, obviously! I didn't make it, but we had chopped tomatoes, basil, and garlic on one. The other had arugula and stracchino cheese. The best part of this was the story he told us.

Stanca, in the Roman dialect, means exhausted. Stracchina is a variation of the Italian word, as well. Stracchino cheese gets it's name from the tired cows it comes from. Up in the northern part of Italy it is hilly and mountainous so the cows that climb up and down are exhausted at the end of the day. The milk from these tired cows is used to make this gloriously smooth, sweet, and creamy cheese sensibly named stracchino. It's a luxury to have since only a few, exhausted cows can make it! I've seen it at the market since, however, and I will definitely be attempting to repeat this recipe in the near future. 

[You can tell here that they're a unique kind of tomato - the skins are partly green, partly orange!]

I helped a bit with browning the garlic for the tomato sauce, but Chef Andrea finished most of that as we sat down to eat. It was fun to chat and get to know the people near me at the table. I'm liking this "slow food" culture :) 

After our antipasti [appetizer] of bruschette [that's the plural form of bruschetta], we had the homemade spaghetti with tomato & basil sauce. I didn't actually make the noodles, but half of the class did! I have the recipe so one day when I have lots of time on my hands!

  

Dessert was tiramisu! Confession: I came to Italy not liking tiramisu at all. I've since discovered that this is because I've never had fresh tiramisu. The process of making this dessert involves raw egg whites. If it's not eaten the day that it's made, alcohol has to be used as a preservative. Actual good tiramisu is in fact not soaked in Bailey's and is incredible. The light and fluffy top melts in your mouth with hints of the rich chocolate from the lady finger layer on the bottom. A dollop of homemade whipped cream and I was in heaven. Tiramisu literally means "life me up" [tira- pull, mi- me, su- up]. According to Chef Andrea, if it has alcohol in it, it will "put you down" ;)

 I came home stuffed with a delicious meal. Chef Andrea kindly emails us the recipes so we can attempt to recreate our meal. I figured I'd share them on here as well! They're at the end of the post :)

The movie part of this post comes from last night. Gianna and I went up to AUR as they were showing La Grande Bellezza [The Great Beauty] which recently won an Oscar. We weren't sure what we were about to see, but had heard rave reviews from a variety of people. I ended up really enjoying it but it was definitely a lot to take in! The style reminded me of the newest The Great Gatsby movie as it was often moving in a quick-paced, dream-like way. Some characters floated in and out, the soundtrack was incredible, party scenes were epic, and the transitions were abrupt. The movie explored what it means to live and to love, but not in a cheesy or typical fashion. It was seen through the eyes of a writer in Rome, Jep Gambardella. He interacts with some fascinating people while discovering the great beauties that we all experience. After a while, the subtitles won't annoy you, so I suggest watching it and forming your own opinion on this well-done movie!

A post about Florence & Trequanda will come soon! And, as promised, here are the recipes:

bruschetta 

serving 4 people

-8 slices Italian bread

- half a clove of garlic

- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- salt

Grill the bread until crisp and golden brown for about 3 minutes. Rub each slice of bread with half a clove of garlic, then drizzle with one table spoon of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt. 

You can toast the bread in the toaster, but using the oven dries it out more, adding an authentic touch! Be sure to use only a good, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil as the dish depends on the quality of the oil.

al pomodoro e basilico

-4 tomatoes (the best kind you can get to make bruschetta this time of the year are called pomodori colonna or back home I'd suggest you to use the Roma tomatoes type) 

- 1 clove garlic (remove the heart of it, as it's heavy to digest when raw)

- 10 leaves fresh organic basil- salt

- pepper

- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Chop the garlic and tomatoes into small cubes, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and serve.Chop the garlic and tomatoes into small cubes, sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and serve.

al rughetta e stracchino

- arugula

- salt

- extra virgin olive oil

- lemon juice

- stracchino cheese (it's a smooth cheese that you can find at any supermarket or open market - if you can't find this cheese then you can add fresh goat cheese)

Clean, wash, and chop finely arugula salad. Season with salt, extra virgin olive oil, and few drops of lemon juice. Spread it on top of your bruschetta and add a little drop of stracchino.

spaghetti alla chitarra fatti a mano con sugo di pomodoro fresco e basilico

serving 4 people

for the dough

  

- 500 gr / 4 cup of semolina flour (hard durum wheat)

- 250 ml / 1 cup lukewarm water

- 4 pinches of salt

 Spaghetti alla Chitarra pasta is made with a hard durum wheat (semolina) flour and water (no eggs) which gives them a distinctive golden yellow color and it is very famous in the Abbruzzo region. It’s a very simple recipe to prepare, but you may want to purchase a "chitarra" maker to prepare it!

 To get ready with the dough, make a ring with the flour on a flat surface, marble or board and pour some of the water into the middle. Add salt and draw the flour towards the middle using your finger tips. Keep doing this until you have incorporated most of the water and flour into a sticky dough. Knead it lightly, adjusting water and flour until the dough is relatively smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 15/20 mins.

 Once chilled, divide the dough into quarters or more for ease of rolling. Roll these out using a rolling pin or pasta machine until smooth and thin, then use a rolling pin o the chitarra maker and your spaghetti with a squared section will come out of it!

Either cook straight away, or dust with semolina flour to prevent them sticking while you prepare the sauce. Once in a pan of salted boiling water, they will get cooked in less than a minute and make sure they will be "al dente".

 for the sauce

 - 5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

- 1Kg / 2,2 lb fresh and organic San Marzano or tomatoes on the vine (back home you are able to use Roma tomatoes too)

- few leaves of fresh organic Basil

- 1 clove garlic

- 100gr / 1 cup Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese (to coat your dish)

  

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, saute garlic with extra virgin olive oil (remember to leave the skin on and do not burn the oil, just wait for garlic to get brown). Than add chopped tomatoes previously blanched and peeled, and allow them to cook and saute. After the tomatoes have cooked down for about 10 minutes, they'll look softer and release some water, add salt. You are able to add your own personal touch to the sauce with some chili flakes (but not too much) or fresh ricotta chunks in with the tomatoes. In the end add freshly chopped basil leaves.

 To cook the pasta put a large pot of boiling water over high heat. When the water is boiling, toss in a couple of tablespoon of salt with the pasta. Stir to keep it from sticking and cook for less than a minute until a piece of pasta tastes cooked (if the pasta if freshly made, just cook it for less than a minute otherwise it will result too soft and mushy). 

When the Spaghetti alla Chitarra pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the frying pan with tomatoes. Drizzle with cheese to coat the pasta. Season your dish with pepper if you like and garnish with some fresh basil leaves, and serve hot. It will be delicious!

tiramisu

- 4 eggs (large size)

- 4 tbsp sugar

- 250gr mascarpone cheese (I am not able to use cup measurements as it's an imported product that comes in 250gr or 500gr tubs.)

- chocolate chunks (dark chocolate is preferred)

- ladyfingers or savoiardi biscuits

- 200ml (about 1 cup) espresso coffee

Using a moka (a typical Italian espresso maker) make some coffee to dip in your lady fingers and set aside until it will cool down. In the meantime you are able to start working on the cream mixture, all you have to do is to separate 4 eggs yolk from the whites, and use an electric whisk to whip 4 eggs whites with 2 spoons of sugar. Then into a diffrent bowl (aluminum is always preferred rather than glass bowls) you have to beat the 4 yolks with the remaining 2 spoons of sugar until very thick and light in color. With a wooden spoon or spatula stir in mascarpone cheese until smooth (since it is an imported product in most countries, I have used the Italian measurement so you will know how much to get!). Make sure all chunks of mascarpone cheese will disappear in the egg yolk cream mixture. As soon as both egg mixtures are ready, you have to fold them together from the bottom to the top with a spatula. This is the only way your egg whites will keep their consistency and not become flat.

To assemble your dessert dip the ladyfingers, one at a time, in the coffee mixture and line a long flat serving dish with them. Sprinkle chocolate chunks and spoon a layer of the cream mixture over these. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers and some chocolate chunks, then spoon the remaining cream over the top. During the class we prepared only one layer of ladyfinger for a nicer presentation of your dessert, even if the quantity of cream was enough to make two layers. 

Before serving, leave it chilling in the fridge for min. 2 hrs, and then cover your Tiramisù with unsweetened chocolate/cocoa powder. 

If you want this dish can be made up within hours in advance, but in this case sprinkle cocoa powder only before serving and not while sitting in the fridge. It will be a hit!