My teacher, Simonetta, had a dentist appointment this morning, and our class was started at 4:30pm instead of 9:30am, so I had the morning off to wander and have lunch. And what a lunch. I went to I' Toscano Sas on Via Guelfa.They had a fixed price menu for 16Euros (that translates to $21 ... much for a lunch, but I get a free breakfast at the hotel, then eat what I cook at Simonetta's house) that was wonderful.I had the ravioli with butter and sage (since that was what I had a lesson in yesterday), roasted pork loin and cream pudding (also known as panna cotta!). I was run by a family, and the food was great. The daughter was the wait staff/ cashier/ hostess. The dad was cooking. The ravioli that we made the day before was better ... but just. It was better because the sage was crispy, and the ravioli dough was thinner. But I loved the atmosphere and the attention. Everyone was very nice to the tourist who couldn't speak Italian.
After that I went to have an espresso (called caffe) at a local coffee bar. Normally I stand at the bar to have it (.90 Euros = $1.19), but there was hardly anyone there, and I got a table. The espresso amount is tiny and very powerful. Loved doing the people watching thing. There were two very old (very, very old) women seated next to me. There were some business people hunched over computers. No children. No adolescents. They have a huge selection of pastries and sandwiches, but I haven't figured out how to order them yet, so I haven't tried anything.
Then it was time for the class.
Today we cooked spinach with tomato (olive oil and anchovies and parmesan cheese), chicken legs wrapped in prosciutto and rolled in a combo of fresh sage and rosemary (chopped up with a mezzaluna), broccoli with orichietti pasta (with garlic, anchovies and bread crumbs), and roasted sweet peppers rolled around equal amounts of ricotta and parmesan. And we had a nice chianti to go with it. The spinach and tomato was a surprise, how good it tasted.There are better ( and more)pictures here.
