Today was a fun day in Venice. More specifically, we were in Lido, a large island just outside of Venice proper. I’m not sure if it’s actually part of Venice, but you can take the vaporetto (the water taxi) there, so I’m guessing that it is. We had a cooking class set up at the Acquolina cooking school, led by Marika. There were a total of 6 students, Cristina and I, 2 other Americans and 2 Canadians. Marika was a very friendly and engaging instructor, walking us through the process of making good pasta dough (and why Italian pasta is better than you find anywhere else), making fettuccini, ravioli and gnocchi from scratch. The pasta itself wasn’t too challenging, especially since she did most of the mixing with a KitchenAid stand mixer with a paddle attachment. But when it was my turn to knead the dough, I kept folding it, which is apparently a big no-no. It causes creases in the dough which then cause the dough to break when you’re rolling it out. I guess that’s a key difference between kneading pasta dough and kneading bread dough. Or maybe I’ve been making bread wrong as well. That’s certainly a possibility. The dough was split into 2 batches, one for the fettuccini and another for the ravioli. Both batches were rolled long, flat and thin. One was then sliced into strips, the other was laid on a ravioli tray and stuffed with a mix of cheeses. We laid another strip of pasta on top, squeezed the air out, sealed the ravioli and cut then into single pieces. It took us about 10 minutes to make a single tray of a dozen ravioli. Granted, we’re students and after a little practice, you can probably cut that rate in half. But that pace, I think I’d prefer Chef Boy ‘R Dee. At least that comes with a sauce, which we hadn’t even started yet.
We also made a basil pasta, which was surprisingly easy. Basically, you puree the basil before adding it to the dry dough ingredients. Mix well, then add the wet ingredients. That’s it. And I’ve been paying extra for that in the store all of these years. But now I know how easy it is to make, so I won’t fall for that again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well, I’m probably just too lazy to make my own pasta at home.
The gnocchi was fun to make, shredding the potato, making the dough, rolling it out and then cutting it into gnocchi pieces. Then you roll each piece on a fork to give one side some texture and you use your fingertip to put a little dent in the other side. Marika was very insistent about that dent, since that would be where all of the pasta cause gets trapped so you can really enjoy the flavors. Making gnocchi is surprisingly easy, even shaping the individual pieces. If you make it right, it looks like a smiley face. If you don’t, it looks like a lump of potato mush. So it’s pretty easy to tell if you got it right. And here’s the best part for the non-cooks in the audience: It’s easy to cook! Boil water. Add some salt. No, it doesn’t matter how much. If you’re bored, add more. If you’re running low on salt, add less. Once it’s at a low boil (not a simmer, but not a rolling boil either), add the gnocchi. Make sure they don’t stick together. When they hit the water, they’ll sink. That’s ok. When they pop to the surface, they’re cooked. Skim them off and toss with a little olive oil. Seriously, they’re like that popup timer on a Thanksgiving turkey. Actually, they’re more like a fish. If it’s floating on the surface, it’s ready to be eaten. (What? That’s not how fishing works?)
While we worked on making and cooking the gnocchi, Marika made some sort of cheese sauce. It stank like hell and tasted like blue cheese, which meant that Cristina liked it and I though it tasted like old socks. We also made a tomato sauce from scratch. 5 basic ingredients, that’s it. Crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil. We added a few basil leaves and 2 whole cloves of garlic to infuse the sauce, but those were removed before serving. Reduce to a low simmer, cover it with a splatter screen (unless you want to clean the entire kitchen), and simmer for an hour or so. The sauce was simple and tasty. So much better than the jarred stuff. Prego’s been my staple for years, but if this stuff keeps in the freezer, I might have a new go-to option. (Edit: A quick search shows that this will keep for 12 – 18 months in the freezer. I should have looked that up before I wrote that sentence.)
After all of the cooking was done, the students sat down to a nice Italian meal of pasta and gnocchi and a variety of sauces. Marika provided plenty of Prosecco and wine to go with everything. I wasn’t a huge fan of the heavy cheese sauce, but other than that, it was a surprisingly tasty and easy meal. I say easy because there were 7 of us working in the kitchen; I think it might be less easy on my own. But maybe that’s why the Italians are such social and friendly people. It takes a roomful to make a single meal. If they weren’t social, they’d starve to death.
