Class 1 – Laura
Colangelo
25 September 2003
PESTO
Take 4 large stalks of
basil and rinse them well. Place
paper towls on countertop and remove leaves,
setting them on the towels to dry...take more paper towels and lightly
press to dry. (They can air-dry, too,
if you've got the time).
Put these in blender with
enough olive oil to make a paste (they might not all fit at once, just
blend and add, blend and add). When
you have a pretty good paste, add a clove of garlic (or two if you really
like it), about half a cup of pignoli (pine
nuts), and a pinch of salt. When
well blended, add cheese
(parmigiano) to taste. Have patience with the blender. Yes, it will take a long time.
That's it. Very easy. No cooking needed. Place some pesto in the bottom of a bowl,
put the pasta (particularly good with linguine) on top, and mix. You may also add boiled
potatoes (cubed) and boiled string beans, as well, for the genuine Genovese
pesto experience.
The doses for this batch
will make lots of pesto, enough for many servings.
Pesto is one of those
sauces that you use in very small quantities. So save the rest. It will keep about 4 days in the fridge
under olive oil, severl months in the freezer.
TIRAMISU'
5 eggs
half a kilogram of mascarpone
cheese (foreign cheeses section of the
supermarket!)
5 tablespoons of sugar,
or to taste
ladyfinger cookies (savoiardi)
cocoa powder
a good amount of coffee -
real Italian espresso is best - diluted with Kaluah
or rum...even sweet vermouth. Or
water works, too.
With a hand mixer, mount
the egg whites. That is, mix on a
high speed for quite a while, until they begin to form peaks. Then add mascarpone. Mix the yolks and the sugar, and add this
mixture to the egg whites / mascarpone.
Wet the ladyfinger cookied in the coffee, turning to get both sides. This
will take a little practice, because they should be neither too soggy nor
too hard.
Layer the cream mixture
and the soaked cookies in a glass or ceramic pan, dusting layers with cocoa
(use a sifter, obviously). Put in
the fridge for 5 hours or so, or put in the freezer for a while.
Class 2 – Giovanna
Lenzi-Sandusky
30 October 2003
