Wednesday, November 30, 2011

“SAUCE, n. The one infallible sign of civilization and enlightenment.” ~ 
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

When Bruce and I did our fabulous fall traveling, the only thing that I regretted was that I was not able to take the next few cooking classes that Fabio was offering.  I introduced you to Fabio of Fabio's Italian Kitchen back in September, when I took the first of his new cooking classes - Pasta!  It was wonderful, and I was so sorry to miss "Sauces" and "Seafood".  Happily, Fabio is running them again, though with a different menu.  It had been my intention to combine both today's class (sauces) and next week's class (seafood) into one post - but there are just too many mouthwatering photos to reasonably do that. 

The menu for today's class:

CLASSIC BÉCHAMEL (The secrets of making one of the most popular mother sauces)

PAPPARDELLE ALFREDO SHRIMP AND BROCCOLI (Homemade pappardelle pasta with "Alfredo" sauce)

TORTELLINI ALLA VODKA CON PANCETTA (Homemade cheese tortellini with vodka sauce and pancetta)

POLLO AL PESTO (Lightly floured pan seared fresh chicken breast sautéed with onions and artichoke hearts, finished with homemade pesto sauce)

 As with Fabio's previous class, I really enjoyed the hands-on approach. His classes are a wonderful combination of demonstration and participation.  I feel that we really have the opportunity to learn what we are doing.

Our host, Fabio, preparing to cut pappardelle into strips.
Lilibeth, Fabio's assistant and an absolute sweetheart!

The pappardelle~
We cut our own ~

The addition of parmigiano reggiano, which Fabio insists is THE best! 
Browning garlic ~
Stirring the bechamel sauce ~
Adding wine~
The finished dish:  pappardelle with shrimp and broccoli - indescribable!
Pancetta for dish number 2 ~
Cutting pasta into squares to make tortellini ~
Fabio's were perfect ~
Ours?  Well, not quite so much!
Adding the vodka to the sauce!!! 
Plum tomatoes were also added ~

The completed dish ~ tortellini alla vodka con pancetta ~ Heaven!
Basil for the pesto sauce for dish number 3 ~
Browning the chicken cutlets ~
The artichoke hearts are added ~ 
The completed dish: pollo alla pesto ~  Yum!

Next week I will bring you (with a little help from Fabio) the Seafood class!

1 comment:

  1. Bravo! Tracy, your photos are as well-crafted as the sauces themselves. You've really brought the class into my living room. Can't wait for next week's seafood class!

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