Thursday 14 November 2013

Olive Oil Touring in Sabina

Sabina is a region, just north of Rome and famous for it's high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Harvest time happens just once a year, when the olives turn from green to black and at their best with the highest amount of anti-oxidants. The local farmers are currently harvesting their olives to make their own D.O.P. extra virgin olive oil. (D.O.P. means that the olives are grown, picked, pressed and bottled in the same region, in this case, in Sabina). 

If you want to find out what good olive oil is all about, Convivio Rome now conducts 2 types of Olive Tours: 1/ An afternoon Olive Grove Tour during our 3 and 5 night Italian Cooking Holidays, and
2/ A Half Day (3 hour) Olive Oil Tour. 
To find out more http://www.conviviorome.com/Convivio_Rome/OliveTour.html




Tuesday 22 October 2013

Chocolate from fair trade in Città di Castello

We all love chocolate, but if it's from fair trade it's even better! We visited "Altrocioccolato' in Città di Castello (near Perugia) last weekend and learned a lot about chocolate and how it's made traditionally, starting from the cocoa beans. The intense aroma of pure chocolate accompanied us while we visited the town, listened to live music and strolled through the organic farmers market. With 60.000 visitors over the weekend 'Altrocioccolato' the Italian fair trade chocolate event of the year, was a success.







Saturday 24 August 2013

Pesto Tips

Basilico (the herb, basil) is in season and as Guido's grandmother and mother come from Genova, the birthplace of pesto, he loves to include making this delicious sauce in our cooking class menu. Here are just some of the tips for making a great pesto sauce:
1/ To clean: Never fully wash basil leaves, only wipe them with a clean cloth (this helps the basil stay fresh, green and dry)
2/ When using a mortar and pestle to grind the ingredients, always use a stone or marble mortar and a wooden pestle. as this brings out the best flavour! (Never stone with stone or wood with wood)
3/When you have placed the ingredients, including the basil leaves in the mortar, add a pinch of sale grosso (rock sea salt) before you start to grind (and also another pinch as you continue). This will help you grind the leaves more easily and keep the colour of the basil leaves light (because of the natural sodium in the salt)

Pesto is very versatile as it is not only tasty with gnocchi or pasta, it is also often eaten in Italy with fish dishes or as a dip!


Wednesday 17 July 2013

Natural Honey from Sabina

Today we visited our local beekeeper to get a few kgs of Sabina honey for our italian cooking classes. The region of Sabina, just north of Rome is not only famous for it's extra virgin olive oil and pecorino cheeses, but also for it's honey. The season for honey is now. Signore Bruno, the beekeeper reminded us that his honey keeps "per sempre" ( forever).




Sunday 14 July 2013

Artichoke's beautiful flowers



By now, in July, artichockes become big purple flowers here in Italy. They're no longer edible by this stage, but they are beautiful to look at!

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Beet greens fresh from the garden.

Here in Italy we grow a type of beet which produces delicious leaves that can be stir-fried or eaten with just olive oil and lemon. These where the last beet greens out of my vegetable garden for this year (their main season is winter), so I stir-fried them with garlic, olive oil, tomato and a pinch of salt. Soon it will be time for summer vegetables!


Saturday 6 April 2013

10 minute pizza!

An old recipe from Apulia came to my mind for a quick pizza base. I've mixed 2 parts of mashed potatoes and 1 part of flour, added a pinch of salt, spread the dough inside an oven tray, topped with olive oil and anything I like on a pizza. Ready in 15 minutes, baked at 170 Celsius. Good for those intolerant to yeast and very light!



Thursday 14 February 2013

Saltimbocca alla Romana (with an orange twist)

This is one of Rome's most traditional dishes but, for our cooking classes, I gave it a little twist. I've added the freshness of the orange flavour by reducing the juice of an orange with mediterranean herbs to obtain a thick sauce to serve together with the meat for a nice balance.



Saltimbocca alla romana (with an orange twist)
1 slice of veal per person, 1 slice of prosciutto di Parma per person, fresh sage leaves, bay leaves, 1 clove of garlic, orange juice (half a small glass), extra virgin olive oil.
 Pierce the sage leaf, prosciutto and veal with a toothpick so they stick together. Let the garlic roast in extra virgin olive oil until golden and then throw it away. Quickly fry the meat at medium to high heat. Add no salt, as prosciutto will release its own.
For the orange sauce: fry garlic with oil and whole bay leaves and rosemary. Take the herbs out and then add the orange juice. Let the juice evaporate for a few minutes. Pour the sauce at the bottom of the plate and place the meat in the middle.