Cooking with Lucas

Two days in a row I'm blogging about food. I'm not sure what that says about me, other than I'm eating really well these days. Today I went to a cooking class in downtown Vicenza with a group of friends. This was the second class I took with Chef Lucas (www.cookingwithlucas.com) and some of the same friends, and I was very much looking forward to this pumpkin-based class. As it turns out I was slightly misled because we cooked with squash, but I don't mind in the slightest. Lucas started the squash in the oven before we arrived, so it was nearly finished by the time we got there.

We started off with Lucas' own pumpkin cappuccino recipe. Not to be confused with  Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, which contains no actual gourds. He took 3-4 tablespoons of roasted squash and put it in a blender with a couple cups of scalded milk and 6 servings of espresso, along with some cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, turmeric, and disarrono. Delicious!

Next we prepped the lasagna, and sipped some Prosecco. Instead of making our own pasta, we used prepackaged kind, half sheets designed to fit perfectly into Italian pans, which are slightly smaller than American 9x12 cake pans. Or lasagna pans, for that matter. We started off with a classic bechamel sauce - don't forget the nutmeg. Then we did a whole lot of dicing: raw butternut squash, onions, and sorpresa salami, all of which was sauteed to be the main filling of the lasagna. When it cooled off a bit, we added radicchio. All of this was layered over the noodles, along with walnuts, smoked provolone, and a sprinkling of black/white/pink peppercorn. The top layer was the filling mixed with the rest of the bechamel, and topped with some more parmaggiano cheese. All of this went into the oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We made fresh pasta for ravioli, using half semola and half farina. We did four eggs worth; two plain, one dill, and one paprika. Then we rolled out the pasta and kind of decorated the plain with designs made of the other two types. It's hard to explain, but they came out very pretty! The picture to the left is after the plain has been rolled out and decorated, but before it's been rolled again to incorporate the other two flavors of dough. Into this we spooned  roasted squash which had been mixed with more cheese and these particular Italian amaretto cookies. Apparently Italians only use those cookies for cooking, but Lucas told us Americans like to eat them. I didn't taste them, but our friend James did, and he liked them. They were quarter-sized and in my brain they are kind of biscotti-like. Anyway. We made the raviolis both nonna-style and German-style. This means we made some with knives and forks for crimping, and some with a fancy German-made roller/cutter. As Lucas put it, while nonna makes one, the Germans very efficiently make ten.

Lucas had us taste a chianti while we were making the raviolis, one he'd never bought before. Chianti is not generally something I like, but this one was pretty light. In general, the group gave it a thumbs-up.

For dinner, we ate the ravioli as our first course, with a butter-sage sauce (so simple! just melt butter and crisp up some fresh sage in it) with balsamic vinegar swirled on the plate underneath and of course topped off with some more cheese. The lasagna was our second course, and while I enjoyed it, it was so heavy I couldn't finish it. The radicchio cooked down and wasn't bitter at all, and the walnuts soaked up a bit of the bechamel sauce but retained some nice texture. I think if I cooked this at home I believe I would leave out the salami, as it overpowered the squash a bit. Lucas recommended some alternatives, including prosciutto, bacon, ham, and mushrooms.

I will definitely be trying these dishes at home, probably the cappuccino first. I think I could manage them from memory, but Lucas very helpfully posts recipes on his website. I'm sure I will provide an update when I fly solo on these!

Helena, if you are reading this, go update your own blog! :)