I like to think that I’m a good cook. I’m no Ina Garten or Julia Child by any means, but I know how to roast asparagus and sauté a chicken cutlet, which is more than I can say for most 20 year-olds. But being in Italy, where some of the greatest chefs are born and bred, I thought I could learn a thing or two by taking a cooking class. Luckily for me, the American University of Rome offers cooking lessons for a mere 15 euro every Tuesday night. I was game.
Each lesson is taught by Andrea Consoli, executive chef of La Fate restaurant in the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome. I have massive respect for him, as he wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. and buys only the freshest ingredients from local markets for his restaurant and the cooking class at AUR. His entire life is dedicated to food and cooking, and his energy and enthusiasm in the kitchen are infectious. As he entered the kitchen carrying a bulging crate of spinach leaves, pork cheek and tomatoes, Andrea informed us that we would be preparing a traditional Italian four-course meal in two short hours.
For the antipasto course we prepared spinaci alla Romana, or Roman-style spinach. Bright green leaves of spinach were sautéed in butter, salt, pine nuts, raisins and grated Parmesan cheese. I was never a lover of sautéed spinach, or any sort of sautéed greens of any kind before, but the dish was my favorite of the night. The leaves were soft and buttery, and the raisins added an unexpected sweetness to the plate.
With the second course came tagliolini carbonara, a rich, fresh pasta dish with guanciale (made of pork cheek) and an egg and pecorino sauce. The moment I saw the pasta machine in Andrea’s crate, I knew that this dish would be my favorite to make — I’d never made fresh pasta before, and I was itching to try it out. The dough was rolled several times until it was stretched impossibly thin, and then cut into the long and thin tagliolini shapes. After only a minute in the boiling water, the noodles were ready to be devoured. I was surprised to find that the Italians only use eggs from wheat-fed chickens in the carbonara egg sauce, as the yolks are far more orange in color than grass-fed chicken eggs, which are more yellow. The rich orange color of the yolks give pasta carbonara its distinct yellow color, and, according to Andrea, makes the dish more appetizing to the eye and stomach. Guanciale is also used instead of pancetta or bacon, which are more common in American versions of carbonara.
Our second course, known as secondi in Italy, featured straccetti di manzo con pachino, rughetta e scaglie di Parmigiano, or paper-thin beef with tomatoes, arugula and Parmesan. We sautéed the beef and tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, and topped it off with crisp arugula leaves and grated Parmesan cheese. Andrea had us keep the skin on the garlic clove, as it contains the most nutrients and anti-oxidants.
A soufflè alla pera e cioccolato ended the meal, and was quite a pleasant surprise. Soufflés are notorious for being difficult and temperamental, but whisking the egg whites and peeling the pears proved to be an easy feat when working with a group. I am not a huge fan of pears, but the mild sweetness of the fruit and the richness of the semisweet chocolate ended up making a great pair.
The food was fresh and the kitchen was tiny, but Andrea and seven of us AU study abroad students squeezed into the space and pulled off an amazing, authentic Italian feast.
kholliday@theeagleonline.com
