cooking adventures in Italia...

Sorry this post doesn't have any sketching in it but I wanted to share the other thing I've been doing lots of in Lucca. 

I've been cooking... a lot. It's been really nice having a little apartment to come back to at the end of the day with some super fresh produce and make some dinner. I love going out here too, the restaurants are incredible but I'm trying to take advantage of having a kitchen to myself and amazing markets just down the street. It's also pretty hard to resist cooking with a view like this. 

There's been mostly pasta dishes happening and I made a big batch of gnocchi the first week. I found some zucchini blossoms last week to stuff and fry. And there's been lots of improvising with leftover bits too. 

Gnocchi night!

Fresh zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and rosemary

Fried glory...

Pappardelle pasta

My friend and I translated this recipe from a La Cucina Italiana magazine. It was called "6 P's" The 6 P's were patate, papardelle, proscuitto, prezzemolo, Parmigianao Reggiano and pepe.  

Fall also decided to show up while I was in Venice/Bologna, and it is pretty damn cold! Which scares me because it's only going to get colder. Okay okay, I know it's not that cold, especially for Italy standards. But when you're from California and it was in the 70's a week ago and then suddenly you're wearing scarves/beanies and double socks, it's cold! 

In an effort to save money, I'm trying to go as long as I can without turning the heaters on. So I needed something to make/do today to keep warm and keep occupied while the weather outside is a bit gloomy. Enter, tortelloni! I've been pretty intimidated to make pasta from scratch but this morning it seemed like the time had come. I used Kerry's recipe from Yum and Yummer and it was really easy to follow and make. A giant batch has left plenty for me to eat during these next few weeks. Yum! 

Flour + eggs = pasta!

Couldn't find a rolling pin...an empty wine bottle worked just fine!

Sfoglia rolled out and ready to stuff/fold

They're a little fat and funny looking but ooooh so good! 

Edit: I think I just polished off about 20 of these beauties... probably shouldn't have done that but it was the perfect way to start a food coma on this cold fall night! 

My little gems!

gnocchi a mano {by hand}!

I don't usually post about food and such, I'd much rather keep this blog just for artsy related stuff....but I was just too stoked that this actually went well that I felt the need to share!

In keeping with my list, I made gnocchi by hand last night! It may not be pasta exactly but it sure was tasty...

 






















         Gnocchi is one of my favorite Italian dishes...I'm a sucker for it if it's handmade. I used this recipe from Food Network and it made quite a lot for just 3 potatoes!

                      Gigantic ball of delicious potato dough! I didn't have an actual ricer or a scraper/slicer but the combo use of a cheese grater, heart-shaped cookie cutter and parring knife worked just fine!

We ended up doing a simple butter an sage sauce on top...then poured on the parmesan! Soooo good!