By Linda Bagby
Many thanks to Team Esperienza for the 2020 Cooking with the Seasons - Natale class. It was wonderful, easy to follow and I felt as if I was right there, in the kitchen, in Italy! I was waiting for a cup of espresso. I had to pay attention as I’m not sure what I was thinking whenI invited friends to join me for dinner after I returned from Italy on Saturday. I had to chuckle with their reactions to my going to Italy….which calmed down considerably when I shared it is ZOOM. With Covid, going to Italy via ZOOM is a pretty good option with a bit of imagination in tow.
Now, might I share a bit of my “esperienza” to serve pranzo di Natale in but a few hours following class. To prepare, I studied the menu, used my friend Google to learn more about cappelletti and identify what is “gallina di faraone”. I had checked in with YouTube videos on making cappelletti. With slight compulsive behavior, I decided to make the meat broth a day ahead and prepared the pasta before class started. Prep ready and I could hardly wait till I “was in Italy.” Chef Carla showed me the way!
I should note both guinea fowl and a capon breast proved to be an elusive item in my area but with Artusi’s blessing I loaded up with chicken. Earlier this year, I happened to come across a YouTube/New School 2011 presentation of Artusi. Michele Scicolone, an author and speaker complimented Artusi’s his writing style, and shared one of her favorite excerpts from his cookbook explaining it is okay to substitute, “even if you don’t have a horse, try to get your donkey to trot.” and my chicken tried to trot. I have since found a source for capon and a friend sent me a link to a guinea hatchery, in case I must resort to raising guinea for true authenticity – not!
After class, trying to be authentic, I rolled ½ of the pasta dough by hand; trying very hard to make sure it was thin. I came close. I also measured my southern biscuit cutter to be sure it logged in at 2 ½ inches. I did ok, but at the rate I was moving I was fearful dinner might be at 9:00 pm. I cheated and pulled out the kitchen aid and ran the remaining dough through the pasta attachment. I had to learn how small of an amount of filling is necessary and finally started to get the hang of wrapping the dough around my fingers. Ta Da. Cappelletti and dessert are in the refrigerator, chicken is in the oven with Bocelli playing in the background. A glass of wine is poured and things are looking good.
When my friends arrived, the kitchen was recovered from the preparation, the room smelled delightful, and a bit of Italy was in my house. As instructed in the class, you must cook with love. I can attest it works. We laughed, told stories, I recounted my class and I’m still smiling on the joy of learning more about Italian cooking and sharing with friends. A few photos follow to document my “trip”. I need practice to wrap lard on a chicken, and a few photo tips, but you can get the idea. It was a great evening with love. Grazie for the adventure and I’m looking forward to the class for New Year’s! Ciao from Linda.