Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Cooking class - with Chef Pualo

We borrowed a couple beach cruisers from Claudio (in Lucca) and biked along the river path to Chef Paulo Monti’s cooking class. Beautiful breezy ride through the beautiful countryside. Chef Pualo spent half a day teaching us (and a young British couple) the finer points of Tuscan cooking. We can now make: almond biscotti, two kinds of crostini/bruscetta – antipasta (one eggplant and the other liver pate-like), vegetable ravioli (we made the flour/pasta, veg/cheese filling and the ‘ragu’ meat sauce from scratch!), an herb-rubbed pork loin with gravy, rosemary roasted potatoes, bread salad (Tuscan-style couscous salad with tomatoes, basil, onion, etc.) – there was not one thing that we made – and ate afterwards with the Chef (and lots of wine) – that we didn’t totally love. THIS was one of the coolest experiences ever. So…expect dinner parties in your near future!

Chef Paulo

Bike riding from Lucca to the Chef's class

Biking through Lucca - not as easy as it looks!

Proof that Kristi was actually in this class!

Jane's bread salad!

Chopping, chopping

Chef Paulo showing how to cut pasta (we just made)

Second dish - pork loin infused with rosemary spices, roasted potatoes, etc - lovely!

Making the Ragu (meat sauce)

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