Conviviality

My sister-in-law and I, we make a good team. Her infectious laugh makes me wanna pee in my pants. Right after we finished vegetarian cooking class, we decided we wanted to go through with these cooking sessions. Plans were made to have an Italian cooking class at my place and after she picked some recipes from my food blog, we set a date.

Mikey has had the opportunity to take Italian speech classes and I envy her for having visited Italy on numerous occasions. In fact, she and her boyfriend are going to the picturesque Monforte d'Alba this summer. I googled the community and I must say: I wouldn't hesitate to join her. How familiar it sounded when she said she was already looking into where they would have dinner.. That's exactly what I would look into! We love to eat and we share the same love for food and cooking.

Today's class was about making pasta. We started out with an Italian appetizer of crispy "finocchio ciappe" crackers with a dip of peppers and walnut. The pasta machine comes in real handy if you want your ciappe real thin and crispy. Mikey had brought a bottle of Martini Royale Bianco. The counter was full of supplies and all dusted with semolina flour. Ready to start making fresh pasta!

My heart swelled with pride when I saw Mikey's enthousiasm once her first cappellini rolled out of the pasta machine. She was so thrilled and the giggles that came from her direction, were very satisfying. She wanted to show her boyfriend and family how well she could make pasta and I'm sure they will agree with her on the taste and softness of her home cooked pasta dishes.

Lana watched us make her favorite ravioli with a filling of goat's cheese, roasted hazelnuts, some slivers of summer truffle and tender bacon bits. Covered in a cream sauce with snipped chives and some extra truffle oil, these ravioli are so sublime, this signature recipe could definitely win a cooking contest. Once the ravioli were put into the freezer to set, we were ready for the more advanced class of making tortellini. It takes some skill to form these precious goodies filled with ricotta and fresh herbs. You have to make sure they come out round and evenly and you have to be aware the filling doesn't spill. I must say, my sister-in-law did real well. It took me many hours and several attempts of watching video tutorials before my first perfect tortellini hit the tray. I could feel her excitement and I'm sure she would eat her little treasures with pride and joy.

We enjoyed lunch together with the whole family, since the girls were home after their exams and hubby had the day off. There was a choice of different ravioli and sauces I had already prepared in advance. Our tummies filled with tender pasta, we headed back to the kitchen to continue our cooking class. There was some leftover poached chicken in my fridge, so we decided to make some ravissimo with smoked paprika chicken mousse. They came out real well and the freezer got stuffed with our little parcels of surprises.



Over latte macchiato and dessert (Mikey had brought some delicious home made amaretti and mascarpone mousse), she asked me when we would have our second cooking class together. I'm looking forward to that! I'm ready to try out her dessert recipe, so my family can enjoy an excellent dessert after another pasta meal.

Thank you for coming over sis. I'm sure we will do this again.. Your car was stuffed with goodies and I'm sure you boyfriend and the little guy enjoyed their Italian meal..