Cooking Lessons in our Villa: Gira! Italian Vacation Rentals

Pam Vallone

Cooking Lessons in our Villa

     The making of fresh pasta, although time consuming, is an art form akin to that of a fine ceramicist preparing clay. A combination of tender flour (white) and hard flour (durum) were poured on the lovely Carrera marble surface of our kitchen table to form a mound with a well in the center. Eggs are broken into the well and flour from the sides is incorporated until pliable dough is formed. Then the kneading begins to add heat from the hands. After ten minutes the dough is set aside to rest for 30 minutes. After that the rolling begins.

     Francesca’s four-foot long wooden rolling pin is the norm for making pasta in Italy. With repeated rolling the dough reaches a diameter of three feet and then is folded into thirds and cut into one-inch strips commonly called Papparedella. Our final effort was the dessert, Zuccotto. A delicious confection of sponge cake filled with different flavors of whipped cream, this cake is made in every Italian home with a specially designed bowl. Zuccotto means pumpkin in Italian so the end result is a rounded cake marked with alternating lines of powdered chocolate and powdered sugar to resemble the lines on a pumpkin. I have also heard this cake referred to as a bishop's skull cap which is called a zuccotto in Italian.

     With all the dishes complete it was time to open the wine, cook the pasta and settle down to dining al fresco under the twinkling stars and quiet serenity of the countryside. The evening air was as soft as each bite of fresh pasta and the memories of this special experience will remain as sweet as the zuccotto tasted for the first time in Chianti.
                                                                ----------

Zuccotto con salsa all'arancio

Sponge cake
4 eggs, separated
100 g. caster sugar
100 g. high-grade white flour
Pinch salt
Vanilla essence (optional)

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and salt until creamy and whisk the egg whites until stiff. Slowly add the flour letting it fall into the mixture through a sieve, alternating with the egg whites. Add the vanilla essence and pour the batter into a baking tray (about 20/25 cm) that has been greased with butter and dusted with a little flour. Bake in a preheated oven (170 degrees C.) for 40 minutes.

Filling
400 ml. whipping cream
40 g. icing sugar
40 g. chocolate chips
50 g. roasted almonds
50 g. roasted hazelnuts
80 g. cooking chocolate

Roast the almonds and hazelnuts with 1 tablespoon of the icing sugar. Keeping them separate, coarsely chop the nuts. With the remaining sugar, beat the cream until stiff and divide it in half. Melt the cooking chocolate in a bain-marie and add it to one half of the cream with the roasted hazelnuts. Add the chocolate chips and almonds to the other half of the cream. Discard the crust from your sponge, then cut it horizontally into three slices, and line a 2 lt. container with the slices, keeping one layer of the cake for the top. With the help of a teaspoon, drizzle the sponge cake with the syrup. Remember to keep some syrup to soak the top of the cake. Pour in the white cream mixture, carefully spreading it around the sides. Fill the center with the chocolate cream mixture and seal with the last sponge slice. Chill in a freezer for about two hours, then transfer into a refrigerator until serving.

Syrup
40 ml. water
50 g. white sugar
30 ml. Grand Marnier Liqueur

Melt the sugar in the water over medium heat. Leave it to cool and add the liqueur.

Sauce
100 g. white sugar
3-1/2 tablespoons water
20 g. unsalted butter
2 oranges
30 ml. Grand Marnier Liqueur

Make a fine julienne with the rind of one of the oranges. Juice both oranges and strain the juice. Cook the sugar with the water and butter. When it is nice and golden remove from the heat and add the juice. Return to the heat and continue cooking until reduced by half. Remove from heat. When it is lukewarm, add the julienne and the liqueur.

                                                                    ----------

Cooking lessons in your vacation rental can be a fun, educational and delicious enhancement to your visit to Italy! Contact us for more information.


home \| vacation rentals \| italian luxury \| collections \| hotel finder \| auto rentals \| LOG IN