Cooking class in Tuscany

What better way to sample authentic Tuscan food than to take a cooking class with a Tuscan chef!  We took a cooking class with Giuseppina Pizzolato from Cuciina Giuseppina at the apartment we rented in Tuscany and enjoyed every minute of it.  To top it off, we had what we cooked for dinner in addition to other foods that Giuseppina and her son Simone brought with them.  It was a great start to our Tuscan holiday.

Never had this before - zucchini flowers

Preparing the batter for frying the flowers

Giueseppina demonstrating how to dip and drain the flower in the batter before frying

The flowers were so delicious!  This professional stove was in one of the apartments at the Castello di Pastine where we stayed

Like all cooks, we multi-tasked.   After we prepared the zucchini flowers so that they were ready for frying closer to dinner time, we started making the pasta.  Giuseppina showed us how to put the olive oil and eggs in the middle of the flour on a tray.  

Mixing the ingredients right on the tray

The proper way to knead...

So much fun putting the dough into the pasta maker!

This is cute - a simple press on this pasta tool created the little shell pasta

A trayful of shapes all made from the same pasta maker

Giuseppina showing off her students' work 

We learned the secret to the pasta sauce - put the olive oil and garlic in cold pan, just when oil heats up and the garlic is slightly cooked, add tomatoes and basil, salt and pepper, cover with lid, then turn off heat.  The tomatoes will cook itself.

We assisted in the preparation of the risotto with porcini mushrooms - mouth-watering good!  So was the liver paté.

The bruschetta - can't fail when the tomatoes were farm fresh

The fettucini that we made - the best we ever tasted...;-D

The osso buco that Giuseppina brought with her - full of flavour and melt in your mouth

Do we still have room for the apple cake?!

Thanks, Giuseppina - it was great fun!