Ciao from Italy – the recipes

The very kind Ashley Bartner from La Tavola Marche e-mailed me all the way from Italy (I’d like to think those e-mails take longer to get to Nashville than the ones from Knoxville) to say that she and Jason would be happy to let me post the links to the recipes I learned on Sunday (and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, just scroll down one post).

So, here’s the recipe for Verdure Gratinate, which were those tasty baked vegetables (I’d eat the onions all day long) and the Pasta alla Norcina, which Jason said some people have told him looks like Hamburger Helper. It does not taste like Hamburger Helper, let me assure you.

Verdure Gratinate - Baked Vegetables with Bread Crumbs

Verdure Gratinate – Baked Vegetables with Bread Crumbs

So here are my notes on these recipes. First, I didn’t really love zucchini before this recipe and I don’t love it now. Too bland. BUT! The onions were friggin’ fantastic and I’ll do this recipe again with onions and peppers. I learned something about pasta and sauce for the Pasta alla Norcina. Jason practically crawled through the camera to implore us to cook the pasta until it’s almost done and then throw it in the sauce to finish it. I’ve always been scared to do that, but I did it because I didn’t want Jason to have a conniption fit. He was right. What a difference. That last little bit of cooking time in the sauce makes those noodles just drink it up. I don’t have a picture of the Pasta alla Norcina because King Daddy ate every last scrap of it before I could get the camera out.

FYI, the recipe calls for “sausage”, which is open to a lot of interpretation. Jason uses homemade sausage which, sadly, is not in my refrigerator. So I bought hot Italian sausage from my beloved Publix. The Italians are laughing at me right now. I know there’s no such thing as hot Italian sausage in Italy. If you really want to stay true to your roots, use Tennessee Pride.

If you want to sign up for a $5 cooking class, here’s the link. Jason and Ashley will send you the recipes so you can cook along with him.  The beauty of this concept is that you can diligently follow along, or have a leisurely glass of wine while you’re not. I did both.







2 Comments

  1. Judy Grieve
    Judy GrieveReply
    January 29, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    Thank you for that link. Those veggies look fantastic. And the cooking class also looked like a great adventure.

    Although I don’t comment often I DO appreciate your blog very much.

    • Catherine Mayhew
      Catherine MayhewReply
      January 29, 2014 at 3:45 pm

      The veggies really are delicious and no guilt!

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