copyright, 2009, Maria Liberati, The Basic Art of Italian Cooking

 After our cooking program in a little town called Baschi, right outside of Orvieto (more on that tomorrow) and meeting with my good friends there Domenico and Paola at Borgo le Fontanile and Velia & Gianluca at La Champagnerie in Orvieto we headed for the Autostrada to continue our visit in Umbria..We headed in the direction of  Todi- to  a nearby little village called Sismano. A ‘piccolo paese’ of only 300 residents. Most of the land is still owned by a Contessa. part of the town is a beautiful natural reserve that has been preserved for truffles and hunting. Some of the old buildings are being renovated into private villas.

 As I was there to visit a friend of mine Susan Evans at her villa- La Veranda, once owned by an Italian Contessa. Susan is an American who fell in love with the beautiful scenery of Umbria. She is the real life version of the ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ story of finding an old building and renovating it into a beautiful villa.

Needless to say my stay at La Veranda this weekend was wonderful…we  could only visitifor 2 days but they were filled with everything possible..cooking in the beautiful kitchen at La Veranda to relaxing outside and taking in the view of the Umbrian Hills on a warm January day to a walking tour of a natural reserve and a  view of wild cinghiale (boars)  to a tour of the castello of Sismano and its’ renovation  and getting a taste of local foods.

But my visit was also to map out the site of The Basic Art of Italian by Maria Liberati tm Cooking school.  La Veranda not only has a large open kitchen for the cooking classes but also a wood burning oven outside in the courtyard  perfect for cooking pizza, chicken, bread.  The setting is perfect for giving anyone an experience of eating outdoors in Umbria at night or under the Umbrian sun for an afternoon picnic.

The villa is a perfect way to experience living in a true Italian villa and getting the full experience of the beauty of not only cooking Italian food but eating at  home (and a beautiful one I might add)..

Our last lunch was held at on Osteria de la Posta..that was opened by a former postman (hence the name  ’de la posta’) that loved to cook. But while waiting for our lunch we were entertained with some history about the ‘Osterie de le Poste’ that were once typical places to be found throughout Italy. They were places that you would travel to in horse and carriage- to get your mail, send your mail and also get feed and water for your horses but also stop to have a meal. And sometimes ,yes, the mailman might also have been your chef…

Umbria is famous for Tartufi (truffles) my favorite dish this weekend there  was a plate of Fettucini al Tartufi.  This recipe is sometimes made with a pasta that is traditional to Umbria (known as Strangozzi) because there is an Umbrian legend connected to it.

Legend has it that during medieval times, in a castle in a town called Pissignano, the conqueror Barbarossa was there because he was planning to destroy Umbria. But legend has it that the cook in the castle served Barbarossa a plate of Strangozzi al Tartufo so good that it convinced him not to destroy Umbria (or something like that)…

Here is the recipe, but if you can’t find trufffles- use a drizzle of truffle oil to add some truffle flavor..

Fettucini al Tartufo

*1 lb of fresh fettucine pasta

*1 black truffle-(finely chopped)

*3 tblsps olive oil

* 1/2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

*1 clove garlic (whole)

Place extra  virgin olive oil in a saucepan and heat, place in cloves of garlic. Saute garlic till just about golden. Remove garlic. Place in chopped truffles and let saute for approx 3 minutes. Remove  from heat. Toss in cooked pasta. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

And for a perfect accompaniment-serve with Orvieto Classico white wine.

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Umbria jazz festival is in town (Orvieto). This year the festival is highlighting gospel music and the music of Duke Ellington..but one never knows who will show up. One year-Sting-who  lives in Umbria- showed up unannounced. You can check out the festival here. at www.umbriajazz.com

If you want to join the culinary tour and cooking classes I will be hosting during the summer version of Umbria jazz, just email Sue at info@marialiberati.com It will be a program of wine and olive oil tasting as well as cooking classes and visits to some special places and a stay in a beautiful Umbrian farmhouse resort..

Nothing goes better with great food and wine than great music, so the festival really fits in well with the culinary programs we are doing here (in Orvieto). Great cooking and tasting during the day and then the jazz festival music at night really makes for a complete  Umbrian experience.

Besides cooking and great recipes and tasting we got to make a stop at the famous Champagneria in Orvieto…  and since it is the Holidays.. sparkling wine pairings-so popular this time of the year. The appetizers we made for this sparkiling wine pairing will be posted here in the next few days.

But remember that sparkling wines can be used for any occasion not just for Holidays. They make any dinner or luncheon a special one. For some suggestions start off a meal with Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene…  A great way to welcome your guests and to start the event.

To follow that with your appetizers of  ,quiche, salami and parmigiana-reggiano cheese try a Pinot noir which is a versatile spumanti. This can also be served with fish, vegetables, white meats, shellfish.

For the dessert course try a a  Moscato d’Asti which is perfect served with panettone or most cakes and pastries that contain fruit. Brachetto d’Acqui (which has become one of my favorites) can also be served with your dessert  course. This is a very versatile spumanti as well and I have received many emails asking where to purchase this. It is light with just tinge of sweetness.

And if you are serving some type of dessert that needs to be eaten with a spoon-like a creme bruleee or flan or pudding-go back to a Prosecco for dessert this makes a great accompaniment.

For more recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com

Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene

Maria

 copyright,2008,Maria Liberati

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking byMaria Liberati tm

As I began my morning very early yesterday to finish picking our fresh plums and ‘susine’ (another type of plum)- I was serenaded by a band marching through our little town. I didn’t realize it  was that time of the year again, but Saint Rocco is a Saint that is celebrated here., And it alwyas is done for his birhtday-August 16th and begins early in the morning with a street serenade and a procession that goes through the town.

Making fresh marmelade- although well worth it is sucha a laborious process. First to pick the plums then choosing the ones that are best for the marmelade- they must not be too mature and just beginning to become ripe. The plums are grown organically  on our farm here and get no chemical treatment whatsoever. Marmelade and crostata made with these plums are a real treat.

The whole experience alhthough tiring was also relaxing-being in the Italian sun, on a small farm, serenaded by a local band while picking the plums and hearing not much more thant the birds chirping and of course the church bells ringing off and on. Unfortunately I had to miss the Palio of Siena but we were able to watch it on TV while making the marmelade.

I want to leave you with a photo from the Palio of Siena en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena

 I also want to leave you with  the recipe we used to make our fresh pasta- tagliatelle since I have just about returned from what was the first and very successful The Basic Art of Italian Cooking culinary tour and cooking program at our farm/country resort in Orvieto-not far from the Tuscan hills. We cooked some wonderful recipes using the fresh ingredients produced at the farm. Of course eating the meals under the Italian sky on the hot August nights added to the experience. I will be making a series of posts of the recipes we created.

Here is the recipe for the fresh tagliatelle we made and  enjoyed! Buon Appetito!
TAGLIATELLE (for 6 people)

2 lbs of ’00′ flour (for recipe)

1/2 cup  ’00′ flour for dusting wooden board while rolling out dough

8 whole eggs

3 tablespoons of semolina flour to dry pasta

Place flour on large wooden board and form a well in center. Break eggs into the center of well.  Beat eggs for 1 minute till blended. Then begin working flour into egg mixture with fingertips.  Gradually  work until dough is formed.Form dough into ball. Dust board with flour. Knead dough until it is smoth and elastic.

Then dust board with flour again and roll out in a large oval shape and about 1/10th inch thickness. Sprinkle dough with semolina flour and let dry for approx 5 minutes.

Then roll up each end of the dough this way- roll up one side, roll up the opposite side and continue till both sides meet and you have a jelly roll type of form. Then cut noodles by making 1/8″ cuts into roll, Seperate into noodles after cut. Dust noodles with semolina flour and let dry for 5 minutes.

Boil a pot of water (1.5 gallons of water) place in handful of salt when boiling. When water has reached a full boil place in noodles for approx 3-4 minutes. Cook till ‘al dente’. Drain quickly but gently.

Be sure to have on hand some extra virgn olive oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for the next part of this recipe.

We served this dish with an Orvieto Classico wine-a locally produced wine

Next post will include some of the sauces we created to top this dish. Ciao for now!!

For more recipes get your copy of the bestselling book - The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com