Traditional Emilian homemade pasta! It’s time to make the pasta with eggs flour  and the rolling pin (it:mattarello), the specialty of my region. It’s amazing becoming aware of  how relaxing is  kneading flour and eggs, massaging the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic at the right point. Making the dough with the rolling pin is an art, it is not difficult nor easy. Basic elements: a wooden cutting board, a wooden rolling pin, eggs , flour, tranquility and passion. At the end the satisfaction is unique! So let’s take 2 eggs , 200 gr of flour and start making the dough! Make a mountain with flour and with circular movements of one hand, make a hole in the middle. Pour the eggs in a bowl and mix. Stream the eggs in the hole of flour. Start mixing eggs and flour with a fork trying not to overflowing the eggs. When it’s well mixed start working the dough with hands. When ready leave the dough to rest under a bowl for about half an hour. Than start rolling the dough with deft movements, not too strong nor too light. And continue till it is very thin…and this is not easy ! With your fresh rolled dough it’s possible to make many kind of “pasta” like “tagliatelle” , “maltagliati”, “quadretti”, “pappardelle” , “tagliolini” or many king of stuffed pasta like “tortellini”, “tortelloni”, “tortelli”, ” ravioli” and much more …

Four different types of Italian main dishes : Passatelli , Risotto, Potato Gnocchi and Spaghetti alla Carbonara. When you think to pasta you immediately think to Italy! Pasta is the main dish for Italians, especially for lunch. Italians don’t like to eat fast both for lunch or dinner  . We have many kind of pasta and sauces and every region has it own specialties. It is an Italian habit eating for lunch pasta or a main dish similar to pasta . Here below four typical preparations: 1) Passatelli: this is a typical main dish of Emilia Romagna and of some provinces of Marche and Umbria regions. They look like thick spaghetti but the taste is completely different because they are made with bread crumbs , Parmigiano Reggiano , eggs and some spice like nutmeg. Usually they are boiled and served with meat soup but now with new and modern recipes you can find “Passatelli asciutti” that means without soup. I love this dish , in my family every Sunday it was an habit to eat Passatelli  and to me it meant enjoying time with my family! 2) Risotto: what I can say about risotto is that all my certainties on the preparation of risotto with this lesson have disappeared … French cuisine taught to fry the onion, to toast the rice to blend it with wine and after to whisk with butter … the modern cuisine subvert these rules! Why ? Because if you want to have different tastes of Risotto , rise must take flavor from the ingredients you mix and not only from onions and wine ! And our risotto with sausages was really full of flavor! 3) Potato Gnocchi : in Italy, gnocchi are usually served as a first course instead of pasta. Gnocchi’s plump, pillowy texture and mild, delicate flavor make them perfect for rich sauces.  The texture must be soft and this can make the difference between good or bad gnocchi. For making good ones you must use potatoes with lot of starch(those with pale yellow pulp)! 4)Spaghetti alla Carbonara : this is a typical dish of Lazio region and especially of Rome , prepared with popular ingredients with an intense flavor ! Now you can find it all over Italy and not only. There are many kind of different recipes of Carbonara. The original recipe includes only “pancetta” bacon , eggs and Pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano (salt and pepper). Eggs must not cook , they must be put together with pasta at the end of preparation!

Appetizers, easy and tasty! Have you ever tried to cook an octopus ? If yes, was it tender or rubbery? Have you ever made mayo by yourself at home ? And a perfect pie made with short crust pastry and eggplants? Cooking is all about techniques, if you know the methods cooking it’s easy , relaxing and satisfying. Third lesson : basics of some easy and tasty appetizers. “Piovra bollita” boiled octopus: Many times I tried to make boiled octopus tender and I didn’t know why I couldn’t .First of all the choice of the octopus : fresh or thawed? If you buy a fresh one you must be sure that is really fresh and you must work it with coarse salt in the sink,  slamming it repeatedly for making the texture of the meat soft. If you buy a thawed one , usually it’s already slammed, so it’s easier.After cleaning it (remove the ink sack and the internal organs) put it in a pot with water, salt, a carrot, a stalk of celery and half a onion. Switch on the stove and never let the water boil , this is the trick for a tender octopus, it has to cook slowly at low temperature.Try with a fork the consistency and take it out of water when you think is enough tender for you. “Acciughe in carpione” marinated anchovies: the most important thing it is to use fresh anchovies . Cleaning them is quite simple just remove the head and follow the belly with a finger inside the fish to open it in two and remove the organs.Flour the anchovies with rice flour and fry them in boiling oil. Dry anchovies with paper towel. In another saucepan, brown the onion cut into slices, raisins, sugar and salt. Add vinegar and water and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture when is still hot on anchovies and leave to them to marinate for 24 hours . After this time drain them and they are ready to be eaten ! “Insalata di pollo con sedano , uova sode , maionese, pomodorini” chicken salad with celery , hard-boiled eggs and cherry tomatoes : If you want to have a meat tender and tasty you have to use the chicken drumsticks! Bone the meat and use the bones for making a soup with carrot, celery, onion, peppercorns and salt. Remove the foam and bring the soup to boil. Dip the meat and turn off the stove. Leave the meat cooking  slowly. When it’s cooked, cut the meat into pieces and when cold add mayo, cherry tomatoes, celery and hard-boiled eggs cut in small pieces. “maionese” mayonnaise : I’ve never tried to make mayo by myself before , but now I’ll do it for sure! It tastes completely different from the one you find at the supermarket! It’s easy to make , you need a whisk for whipping the yolks with salt , lemon juice and vinegar. When the mixture is well blended you have to add oil slowly and continuously .  The mixture have to whip well. At the end you’ll have a creamy mayo. “Quiche lorraine” savory pie with eggplants : the tricks for making a good pie are the making of the short crust pastry and the low temperature hoven cooking. For more info look at the recipes section.

Italian cuisine : between traditions and techniques Having tradition as a departure point is important  but nowadays using the correct technique for making a better preparation is really important too! Many of our traditional dishes were born from the need to use local food products and  keep them in time to prevent them from going bad.  Today  with a better knowledge of cooking techniques  it’s possible to make them even more good and healthy. The second lesson was about the basic of meat ragout , vegetable soups and different methods of cooking eggs: “Ragù di carne Modenese” Modenese meat ragout: Ragout is a term used to indicate sauce meat cooked for many hours over low heat, made of several ingredients (which vary depending on the region). The most popular is the Bolognese one that usually is served with pasta . A little bit different from Bolognese ragu  but similar is the Modenese ragu  . The difference consists in the meat used .There are some tricks for making it tasty and not to heavy , for more info you can find information in recipes section! “Minestrone di verdure” Vegetable soup: this is a really easy preparation but a little bit different from the usual. We diced all the vegetables for the soup. We put them into different bowls and sorted in the order of cooking. First the ones that needed a longer cooking and after those which required little time. We browned the onion with olive oil and then we added one  vegetable at time with a bit of vegetable broth. We did so until the last vegetables. The result was excellent the vegetables were cooked to perfection and very tasty! “Pasta e fagioli” Pasta and beans soup: One of the classic preparation of traditional Italian cuisine is pasta and beans. Each region has its own variations, but one thing  is sure, it is a very tasty dish! We made a base of garlic oil, chopped bacon and ham shank. After cooking them a little bit we added carrots, celery and onion minced. We browned all together and after we added the beans and tomatoes chopped. We covered everything with water , we added salt and pepper and we left it simmer for about 40 minutes.  At the end we took out half of the beans, we blended them and put again all together. We added rosemary and we cooked pasta into the soup. Deliciuos! “Uova in camicia” Poached eggs: finally I learned I to make poached eggs! We put  water and white wine vinegar and a pot and when it was boiling we started making  a whirlpool with a spoon and suddenly we put one egg without the shell . We waited just 3 minutes and it was ready ! “Frittata con gli spinaci” Omelet with spinach: in a bowl we beat the eggs with salt and pepper and we put them in a skillet with a little bit of oil. When they were half way cooked we added spinach , previously boiled , dried and seasoned with salt . We finished to cook the omelet never turning it up and down but only moving it a little .

Passion and Patience for a delightful result. Fine cooking is patience. It’s taking the time to understand the process it takes to get the food to the plate. Studying the techniques makes the execution possible. It’s all about love and care for what you are doing and whom you are doing it for. From the beginning of my new cooking experience at “Scuola di Cucina Amaltea” I immediately understood that the best ingredients for a good compound are passion and time.The school is next to the restaurant “L’Erba del Re” owned by the Chef Luca Marchini, who is also the master of the cooking classes and it is directly connected with the kitchen of his restaurant.L’Erba del Re is a modern and elegant restaurant located in Piazza della Pomposa in Modena, a jewel set in one of the most characteristic corner of the old town. I was a little bit scared going to learn from a Michelin starred Chef as Luca Marchini , thinking to all the tv programs that are about cooking school, like masterchef, where Chefs are arrogant and strict. When I arrived he was waiting for students standing in a relaxed manner , with arms folded , wearing the typical cook’s white shirt. Right away I felt at ease because Mr Luca is a nice and funny person , really approachable. The first lesson was about the basic broths and sauces : 1) “Fondo bruno di manzo” Beef Brown Stock:brown stock is made with beef bones for a delicate-bodied soup. Bones are roasted and when browned they must be covered with vegetable soup and left cooking for about 3-4 hours. At the end the soup must be filtered and cooked again. Finally when it will be enough reduced with some drops of lemon juice it will be ready and really tasty. The stock obtained can be used on grilled meat or for preparing many other dishes. 2) “Brodo di gallina” Broth made with hen:it is very easy to make it and it is the base of many dishes. A hen , a carrot , a celery rib with leaves and half a onion must be put in pan with cold water. It has to boil till it will be reduced of the 30% . 3) “Consommé di carne” Meat Consommé:in broth made with hen we have boiled ground beef, carrot , celery , onion , pepper and egg whites and at the end we passed through a filter the soup. This suop was a surprise to me , very tasty and light.4) “Salsa Besciamella” Bechamel Sauce:I love this sauce because it’s easy to prepare and delightful . The ingredients are flour, milk and butter a little bit of sault.5) “Salsa Mornay” Mornay Sauce:this sauce is made with bechamel sauce , fresh cream and Parmigiano and usually it is used on vegetables or pasta for a creamy result.6) “Salsa di Pomodoro” Tomato Sauce:the secret for a good tomato sauce is the “soffritto” carrots, celery and onion minced and cooked slowly in olive oil. This process can take half an hour , but at the end this vegetables must be well cooked almost like a a cream.The following step is cooking tomatoes and mixing them together with soffitto . This sauce is wonderful with pasta! 7) ” Burro di acciuga” Anchovy Butter:to obtain a delicius butter with anchovy flavour the only thing to do it is to press the anchovies on the sieve for making a sort of cream, and mix it with butter . On warm bread it is exquisite! 8) “Vellutata di Broccoli” Broccoli Cream:this cream left me surprised , so good and low calories! All information about it are in  Recipes section. 9) ” Stracciatella” Egg Drop Soup:this is a mix of eggs , Parmigiano , parsley, nutmeg and salt boiled in hot broth . This is typical of the Roman cuisine , tasty and cheap.