Done with my second day of school and it is really hard for me to not cry tears of joy because today was awesome. I definitely started my day off right with a positive attitude and trying to really focus on being present. This morning I had my Italian 1 class which has only 7 people including myself in it and my professor is absolutely adorable. For the most part, she teaches the class in Italian which made is a lot easier to pick up and grasp. I am thankful that Italian, for the most part, is not similar to French. It makes learning the language easier because the pronunciations are different, where Spanish is very similar so it can make things difficult. Overall, I am VERY excited to learn Italian :] After Italian, I had a break from 10:15-6 and unfortunately I spent that break inside because it has started to snow here...it is really awesome but also very unfortunate for my toes since they froze. Heating isn't exactly that great in our apartment so I am bundled up trying to keep warm, but experiencing snow is pretty magical. I am enjoying spending time with Alex, we always have great conversations and it only adds to the freedom of living here, in an amazing apartment on our own.
My night class was my Pairing Italian Food and Wine, which is a 2.5 hour class where we learn about wine tasting, the different regions of Italy and the wines they are most famous for, how to critically analyze wine through its aroma, taste and color. While doing this we also learn how to cook a variety of meals and then compare what me make with wines and how to choose what wines go best with certain dishes. Not only do we cook main courses, but desserts too! Tonight in class our professor took us around the city and showed us different restaurants that are famous for different things such as Grom for its gelato or Rivore (not sure on the spelling) which is a place famous for their chocolate--they were one of the first families to come into Florence in the 1700's and make chocolate. I also learned that there is a chocolate tasting festival where you can pay an entrance fee and learn how to taste chocolate. SIGN ME UP! Our professor cooked for us after she gave us this walking tour, which took place as it was snowing mind you, and she named a dish called Cucina Povera. It is a dish that the poor italians would make when they had very little in the cupboards and little money to buy meats and finer ingredients.
Cucina Povera
need:
3 golden (or yellow) onions (depending on how many people you are going to feed, if it is not very many use less, probably 1-2 depending on the size of the onion)
lots of olive oil
1 fresh chili pepper
bread crumbs (plain)
Penne pasta
1. add water to pan and cover (for the pasta. fun fact: don't add olive oil to the water, it makes the pasta less sticky which in turn makes it more difficult for sauce to stick)
2. while pasta water is coming to a boil, coat (and I mean coat) a large frying pan with olive oil and add sliced onions. Add enough oil to really coat the onions, this allows them to turn soft without caramelizing or turning brown.
3. Dice chili pepper and add to onions. Season with salt and pepper
4. Once water starts boiling, add a significant amount of salt, 30% of the salt you put in the water evaporates, then add pasta. Cover until water starts boiling again, then uncover. (thats how you make perfect al dente pasta)
5. Add four tablespoons (with an actual table spoon) of bread crumbs. (The crumbs were the cheaper substitute for parmesan cheese for the poor Italians, thats why they are used)
6. Add about 1/2-1 cup, depending on how many onions you have, of pasta water to the onions. Add the water once starch begins to be released from the pasta. (This keeps the sauce from becoming too thick and saves calories since you aren't adding any fats to do the same job!)
7. Drain the pasta once it is done cooking and add it to the onion sauce. Mix well and serve :]
The wine we had with the dish was a rosata (rosé). Seriously, this dish sounds so plain and boring but it was probably the best pasta I have had since being here. SO YUMMY!!! Awesome poor college student dish that is for sure!
Enjoy and Ciao :]
p.s. ITS SNOWING!!!
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