What It's Like Taking an Italian Cooking Class for the First Time

Ciao! This week I was able to experience more of the Italian food culture as I finally signed up for a cooking class here! CEA CAPA holds events a few times each week and the Italian cooking course at Chefactory is one of them! I have never taken a cooking class before and so I was so excited to learn new techniques and recipes during the few hours while I was there. Now, I do have to say I think I think I am quite a chef myself, so going into this I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to learn. However, I am happy to say that even though I knew some of the techniques taught, I was able to learn a few new ones to add to my personal cooking handbook!

Caption: Our fresh pasta!

When we first arrived, we were greeted by Stefano, the main chef that was leading us that night. He handed us each an apron and showed us the way to pick where we wanted to begin cooking for the night. There were about 17 or so of us CEA CAPA students there which was really exciting because I was able to spend time with some of my fellow classmates outside of school, as well as meet new people that are a part of the program.

Making a 3-Course Meal

We made a three-course meal, and let me just say, it was a lot of fun creating each step of it! Since some things take longer to bake than others, we first started by making dessert first. We were first taught how real chefs crack an egg which is taking a fork on the side of it, rather than the typical bowl crack I'm used to. We then had to whisk egg whites in one bowl and yolk and sugar in another. After they were well whipped, we folded them into a melted chocolate mixture which became our batter. There were about six people at each table, so we filled six cupcake tins with the batter and they were ready to go!

Caption: Prepping the Lava Cake.

Next came the prep work for our aperitivo, the appetizer for our meal. We made some potato quiche-like muffins! This step was the least complex as the chefs prepped some of the hard work such as dicing and boiling the potatoes used. All we really had to do was crack the eggs (like the pros do) into the bowl of potatoes and then add the milk and parmesan. After mixing all the ingredients together, we then spooned the mixture into six cupcake tins, just like the chocolate mix, and off they went into the oven!

Caption: Mixing the ingredients for the appetizer.

Now on to the sauces! We were shown how to dice and mince garlic, carrots, onion, and celery to make sure they were all a small, even-sized cube. We were shown how to peel garlic, which I was never certain on how to do, as well as how to flatten celery by pounding it down to make it easier to cut. I like to think that my group did a pretty great job, as it was many of their first times trying to cook an intricate meal like this. After each group was done chopping away, we added the veggies into a large pan with olive oil, and after about 20 minutes or so when they got tender, added ground beef, oregano, salt, and some wine to let simmer for the rest of the time we cooked. We also had some people making the red sauce for the grateful vegetarians (like me). This consisted of three people smashing tomatoes with their hands down to a more puree type consistency. After that, we added the tomatoes to a large pot with the minced garlic and olive oil.

Caption: Prepping to chop the vegetables.

Finally, the time came to make our fresh pasta! I had never made pasta from scratch before, so I was super excited for this next part, as I'm sure many others were too. Stefano guided us through it step by step, since this can be one of the more time-consuming aspects of the meal. It was then our time to get cooking. Many of us were shocked to find out that fresh pasta can be made with two simple ingredients, flour, and eggs. We mixed the two ingredients together until it formed a ball. Then, we flattened the ball with a rolling pin until he could get it as flat as we could. Next came the hand-cranked pasta maker to do the rest of the work. We first thinned out the dough on several different settings, making it thinner and thinner. Once Stefano said it was thin enough, we were in the clear to begin using the machine to shape our pasta. Though there were several other shapes we could choose from, we decided to go with fettuccine. We took turns the entire time using the machine and watching everyone attempt to get the perfect noodles which was very entertaining!

Caption: Shaping the fresh pasta.

Tasting All 3 Courses

After all the pasta was done, Stefano and his assistant allowed us to sit down and begin our appetizer since the pasta only took a few minutes to cook since it was so fresh and soft! They brought in our dishes one by one as each of them were ready. We all scarfed down our appetizer which was pretty good and then were ready for the main event, the pasta! They first brought out the tomato sauce fettuccine and then came the dish (most) everyone was anticipating, the fettuccine with beef and vegetable sauce. Though I didn't have any of it, I can attest that it was everyone's favorite dish of the night! Finally, after dinner was finished and cleared, we had our chocolate lava cupcakes which were a perfect sweet treat to end the night! My first cooking class was filled with lots of laughs, learning, and food that was made with love. I can't wait to experience more of what this city has to offer!

Caption: Dinner is served!