Activity Report: Cook With Us Rome
One of our favorite activities in all of Italy is this Rome cooking class with Cook with Us Rome! We learned the trademark secrets of the Italian grandma and enjoyed the fruits of our labor at the end!
How?
From the reviews, this is one of the top two classes in Rome. There is a morning version where you can go to the market and make a lighter lunch but we love full day cooking classes as it involves more food and more cooking!!
Fashionably Late
As we quickly finished our gelato and entered into the cooking studio, it became quite apparent that we were the last ones to arrive, obviously! It seemed like we would have a good group of around 10 people which definitely filled the kitchen! There was 1 head chef, Cesare, with 2 sous chefs who assisted in everything from pouring more champagne to washing every dish!
Di TOMATO Sauce
First, we had to make our tomato sauce! This sauce would take the longest so we had to start preparing and stewing the sauce. Even as I type these words, the memories flash back as the cher pronounced tomato sauce and the love and care he put into it despite this must have been the 1,000th time he has made it! The Italian tomatoes are some of the best in the world as they just taste so different and are incredibly fresh! They are also more red than say UK or USA tomatoes.
I won’t spill the beans on how he cooks it or the secret ingredients or methods! Safe to say you’ll have to come to the class! After the tomato sauce, we started with our appetisers! We would have zucchini flower and eggplant!
Zi Appetizers
While I haven’t had a (fried) stuffed zucchini flower nor heard of a zucchini flower, the preparation was quite easy. We cut off the outer leaves and prepared the stuffing - fresh mozzarella! I mean you can combine most things with fresh Italian cheese and it would be fine. Once we stuffed the mozzarella in the flower, then began to fry the flower.
For the artichoke, this would be similar to the artichokes I have had in the past where you stuff various spices in there. Essentially, once you cut away the outer shell, the inside leaves become a great vessel for spices. We soaked the artichoke in lemon water and stuffed it with garlic, mint and rosemary. After cutting away the leaves, it becomes quite easy! To ensure it would hold together, we fried it in olive oil for a bit and it was ready for us!
Mamma Mia - Pasta!
Finally, the main attraction - making traditional homemade pasta! We would be making two different types of pasta with two different types of dough. This was to mainly to highlight the importance of gluten as it is used in Italian pasta as it allows the chef to stretch it (i.e. create the spaghetti!) or no gluten for the shorter pasta (i.e. cavatelli).
First, we would make the long all'uovo. This one was quite fun to make as it involved everything that I imagined when I thought about making pasta. We threaded the dough, pounded the counter, and then put the pasta through the machine! At first, it started with only 1-2 people doing it. Before long, we needed all 10 people in the class! It was quite fun to work as a team and secondly how long the pasta could stretch!
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First, the pasta -
Zi Pasta -
Zi Pasta -
Zi Pasta -
Zi Pasta -
Zi Pasta
Next, we would make the cavatelli - this one without gluten! Because this pasta is very small and thin, we would need to make hundreds of these little things! Throughout this process, we used a special wooden board to add the creases and makes the rolling a little bit easier. In the end, we would end up making hundreds of cavatelli between MF, Beth Anne, and I! Obviously, there was a sibling rivalry between the sisters on who was better… I will side with MF - obviously.
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Cavatelli -
Cavatelli -
Cavatelli -
Cavatelli -
Cavatelli -
Cavatelli
Si, Desserto!
For the grand finale, we would make the famous tiramisu - in a cup! Rather than make it via baking pan that would make it difficult to separate it for 10 people. Because tirmasu was made in bulk, I did not personally make it! I stood back, enjoyed the prosecco, and watched as MF assisted on this part. Since I had not made tirmasu, it was quite enjoyable to see the various stages. I had not realized the hard work that goes into it and also curious if we all would like it since MF usually does not like the heavy coffee flavor.
We came, We learned, We ate
For the real grand finale, the wonderful and magical meal was ready for our consumption! We all sat at one table as the chef and his helpers prepared (possibly finished actually cooking) the food. Humble brag - we are amazing chefs! From the zucchini flower and artichoke to the tiramsu, the meal was magical. I cannot believe we cooked this meal!
Both of the appetizers were much better than expected! The fried zucchini flower was light and filled with yummy cheese. I am not sure how I will find a zucchini flower back home, but I like the idea! For the artichoke, it was a really flavorful with the spices, lemon, and finally fried. We are really excited for the mains!
Obviously, the main attractions were the two pastas! They combined the tomato sauce with the pasta all’ouvo to create a very fancy dish. The tomato sauce made it well worth it as it was incredibly fresh and void of the usual sugary or fake tasting! For the short cavatelli, they used a goat cheese broccoli sauce. Despite my fear of broccoli, I could hardly taste it with the goat cheese. I would make it again!
After the meal, Cesare hung out with us and told us stories of his childhood cooking. He had the typical story where he hid under his grandma’s kitchen table while waiting for the food scraps to be dropped and then he finally was able to start cooking! He is a fantastic chef and even better teacher!
After the class “ended” around 830pm, we stumbled our way back home. Combined with the loads of prosecco and the overwhelming amounts of homemade Italian food, we were in a food daze! Plus, some of us had been up since 6am! Either way, we were fat and happy!
The UnChartered Summary:
- Cook with Us Rome was fantastic! Cesare is a great teacher and entertainer. The class is a great mix between cooking and enjoying a tour!
- While I did not go to the half day tour, I would highly recommend his full day cooking class!
- The food is wonderful and I was ready to eat it all!