A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving
We traded turkey for pasta, and even made our own.
Rome
Lisa and I decided to forego the traditional turkey and stuffing in favor of pizza and pasta in Rome. As a history buff, I’d always longed to go to Rome. Our first night we took a golf cart tour. We came around a corner and I was staring at the Roman Coliseum. I had goose bumps and tears in my eyes I was so overwhelmed. I wonder if that’s what it’s like when someone sees New York for the first time.
Rome is a feast for the senses and the emotions.
We did all the typical tourist things, as well as a few things off the beaten path, but the highlight of our trip, and quite truthfully, one of the highlights of our travels anywhere, was a cooking class
Trastevere
We met our guide for the evening in Trulissa Square overlooking the Tiber River, on the edge of a hip area called Trastevere. This square is also known as Dancing Square due to a Tik Tok trend.
Our guide brought us to an unassuming storefront where our lesson was to begin.
I expected to be serenaded by the sounds of Pavarotti or Sinatra, instead a smooth mix of Bossa nova covers of classic songs set the mood.
The Preparation Begins
Gathering around a large table with fresh ingredients, our guide Stefano led us through the mixing of the ingredients to make our fresh pasta which would be used in Pasta Amatriciana (one of the four classic Roman pastas) and Ravioli. We cracked the eggs and mixed them with the semolina flour, making a yellow ball of dough. Lisa was quite adept at the pressing and folding of the dough, I was told that my dough needed work. Undeterred, I continued though I must admit I was not a fan of the feel of the eggy dough.
After some time, it was time for our dough to rest in the refrigerator. I was assigned the task of mixing the eggs and sugar for our gelato, while Lisa was given the enviable job of frying the guanciale. For those unaware, guanciale is cured pork cheek. Used similarly to pancetta or bacon, it is the key ingredient in Amatriciana, along with San Marzano tomatoes. The smell of the guanciale was one of the most amazing aromas imaginable. Lisa fried the guanciale until crisp.
Shaping the Pasta
It was time to shape our pasta. Rolling it with flour until the bright yellow color faded to a pasty white, we flattened it out before putting it through the pasta machine repeatedly to get it flatter and flatter. We placed our flattened dough on a device called a guitar. It’s called a guitar because it has strings. Once the dough is placed on top you use a rolling pin until the pasta fell through in the shape of fettucine.
The remaining dough was used to make ravioli. We rolled the dough out and added a mixture of spinach and cheese from a piping bag before folding it over and stamping it with a ravioli press.
Stefano then stepped back in and added San Marzano tomatoes to the pan. The tomatoes were the most vivid red I’d ever seen. The smell of tomatoes filled the air and Stefano added freshly grated Pecorino Romano to the sauce the vivid red gave way to a pinkish color. Our pasta cooked in a boiling pot. Fresh pasta cooks much more rapidly than dry pasta and our meal was ready.
The Meal
Stefano topped our pasta with the guanciale, and it was time to eat. After seeing and smelling this food for the last hour, we were very eager to get to this food. Despite eating amazing food for an entire week, this was by far the best thing we consumed. The fresh pasta was flavorful like none I’d ever had. The sauce was bursting with flavor and the guanciale was like candy. Together it was a symphony of taste. You could hear people humming as they ate. The ravioli was served with butter and sage which complimented the spinach and cheese. We bantered with our classmates for a bit as we reflected on the meal we’d created and consumed. It was a perfect meal to end a perfect trip. We look forward to making this a staple of future trips.
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