Naturally COLORED PASTA! Yes, with ingredients from the garden, but not only…from the seaside as well.

“Simple is not Easy”, this sentence flies on my mind every day since the first time I heard it. Making fresh homemade Pasta is definitely simple, but there are many variables to remind and respect. Each has its say about making pasta from scratch; when I was studying at the Italian Chef Academy, in Florence, some teachers recommended adding salt, others used a mix made of white flour and semolina, and others added milk if it was too dry and oil to keep it elastic.

Making Fresh Colored Pasta from scratch

Well, I learned to make Pasta when I was a child, looking at my grandmother whit great amazement, enraptured by her experience; that’s to tell you that I didn’t get confused when I discovered, at school, that making the perfect Pasta is not a science, it isn’t something to study but…as everything simple…you have to find your way by doing and doing again.

This is exactly what I try to teach to my guests and descents during our Private Cookery Courses in Tuscany, the cooking class is maybe the first occasion to learn by doing, then you need to practice at home.

Maybe it’ll be necessary to add oil, milk, salt, and semolina, maybe not because you obtained a perfect dough just with basic ingredients: Whole Eggs and 00 Flour. Anyway, all you need it’s kneading until obtaining a smooth and elastic ball of dough. You can use an electric tool, but making it by hand will help you a lot to develop gluten, that’s a crucial variable in making a smooth pasta; then you can roll it with a rolling pin, anyway I often use a  rolling machine and it’s definitely easier and even better if you’re not a skilled pasta maker.  Here’s my recipe for making fresh pasta from scratch. I know it’s difficult to find 00 flour out of Italy, anyway I tested the all-purpose one and it’s ok, you can definitely use it; but please, don’t use flour with yeast inside or anything else.

Pasta Coloring Basics

In the last few years more and more people ask me how to make “colored” pasta, you know that “colored” is not “flavored”; it deals with a fresh and natural way to make pasta, adding some ingredients to the eggs giving to the dough a particular color.

ORANGE PASTA: Tomato Paste; click here for the recipe

GREEN PASTA: Mashed Spinach

BLACK PASTA: Squid Ink (below recipe)

PINK PASTA: Mashed Beetroot

BROWN PASTA: Cocoa powder; click here for the recipe

Cooking Classes in Tuscany

I then finally decided to introduce the possibility to make “colored” pasta during our Cookery Course in Tuscany, with my company CuocheinVacanza. Yes, because is not at all difficult, there’s just one more step to follow, nothing else; everyone can make it and each “color” has its suitable sauces.

Our most requested cooking classes are about “Tortelli Maremmani” (huge ravioli) or “Tortellini” (small ravioli), well, I’m glad to inform you that you can obtain an amazing stuffed colored pasta as well; just remind to fill it with the right ingredients.

Let’s start with the recipe for Black Pasta, that’s fantastic with sea fruits, mussels, and all the ingredients recalling the taste of the “sea”.

Here are some recipes to find some Risotto Sauces suitable for black Tagliatelle as well!

Prawns Risotto

Squid Risotto

Risotto Baby cuttlefish and pumpkin

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L'articolo #Tuscany, “colored” Pasta Cookery Course: black Tagliatelle! proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

Live on stream cooking class directly from my Cooking School near Lucca, Tuscany.

Today’s dish: fresh handmade bow ties! And colored, yes, in fact, they’re pink this time…just add some tomato paste and it’s done.

During our Cooking Classes in Tuscany, we make many types of pasta and the colored one is one of the most successful

Do you feel like fresh pasta? This doesn’t need the machine!

  PINK BOW-TIE Fresh handmade pasta LIVE ON STREAM COOKING CLASS    with delicious Shrimps and zucchini sauce!

INGREDIENTS  (2 people):

200 gr; (1 cup; 2 disposable glasses) Semolina Flour

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 zucchini (large) OR 6 small zucchini

200 gr; 7,2 oz shelled shrimps

1 leak

3 tbsp, extra virgin oil

1/2 glass white wine

to taste black pepper

to taste salt

1 sprig of fresh oregano, fresh peppermint, basil leaves (optional)

TOOLS:

Rolling pin

Dough cutter

Festooned cutter wheel

Smooth cutter wheel OR a simple smooth knife

small bowl with water

bowls

spoon

Large knife to cut veggies

Immersion blender and its glass OR a simple blender

Spider strainer

Pan

METHOD:

Make fresh handmade pasta dough with semolina flour, water, and tomato paste.

Make a stripe, then many rectangles (1,6 x 1, 4 inches)

Shape the bow-ties (at min 30,45 VIDEO)

Cook them in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes

Season with your fav sauce. Here in the video, I’m making a delicious zucchini and shrimps sauce.

Fresh Handmade Pasta Live on stream cooking class

Other kinds of fresh colored pasta HERE!

L'articolo Live on stream cooking class: pink bow-tie pasta, shrimps and zucchini sauce proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

A Tuscan sauce usually is something on the season, made with simple and fresh ingredients.

Fresh pasta represents the essence of my job and the bond with my grandmother. I know it could be silly to explain “the food” as something of great value or an important message, but food is my life and I try to communicate love through food as well. Yes, with my family, friends, but also with my students and customers on holiday in Tuscany.

Almost all of you know that we “Cuoche in Vacanza” (Italian for Cooks on Holiday) are all mad for Fresh Pasta; well, we obviously are mad for every Tuscan sauce for pasta, as well.

So, with our itinerant cooking school around Tuscany, we try to teach how to make fresh pasta in all the possible ways.

In my opinion PASTA is the most versatile dish:

• First of all, enjoying your time, you can make both fresh eggs pasta or no eggs fresh pasta
• Furthermore, there are a lot of fillings for fresh pasta; meat-based, fish, veggies… anyway here in Tuscany we prefer pasta filled with ricotta cheese. Then you can add to the ricotta what you prefer
• well, what is fantastic with fresh pasta is the chance to “color” depending on ingredients that you use with the eggs and flour. Click the link for the many ways to color FRESH PASTA
• Finally, you’ll never finish experimenting to season your pasta dish, because the sauces are endless. Here in this post, you can find the recipe of a very tasteful Tuscan sauce, made with mussels from Livorno and asparagus from San Giuliano Terme.

Well, this time we were called by a group of tourists from Norway to teach them a Tuscan menu:

• Bruschetta
• Ravioli Maremmani and Tagliatelle (black)
• Fresh Veggies Seasonal Sauce

• Tuscan Sauce with mussels and fresh asparagus (recipe down here)

What you’re seeing in the picture are all the vegetables in season here in Tuscany: cherry tomatoes, leeks, basil, asparagus, and the amazing courgette flowers.

Well, don’t be surprised, in Italy we often cook courgette flowers in many ways and I can guarantee you that they are delicious.

• fried: in a blatter, stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies, or with ricotta cheese and olives
• steamed stuffed with fish and egg
• cut in stripes and cooked in a pan (just 5 minutes) to season all kinds of pasta with a Tuscan sauce. Want to see a sauce with courgette flowers? GNOCCHI SAUCE HERE

Our customers and students from Norway were such “hard workers”!

They set a long table outside of the beautiful “Podere Zobi”  (we call “podere” every country villa here in Tuscany) with a fantastic view over the hills.

Sun was really shining and the table was open air, so it was not easy to run the cooking class. But when you’re doing something that makes you feel good, you forget any nuisance.

So we went forward making fresh pasta outside and cooking a gorgeous Tuscan sauce in the beautiful kitchen inside.

The result?

The Tuscan sauce with asparagus and mussels was delicious and everyone asked for an extra portion. It’s a very good sauce for “black” (squid-ink) pasta.

Finally, down here you can read the recipe and I’m sure that you’ll appreciate this dish both for its flavor and the easy way to make it.

You know the Cuoche in Vacanza said: #SimplebutExquisite

Well, here’s another tasteful sauce: red mullet, rucola and piccadilly tomatoes

Anyway, I’ve some questions for you:

Have you ever tasted asparagus with mussels? Where?

So, do you know that here in Tuscany (in Spring) you can find “wild asparagus”?

As “Cuoche in Vacanza (Chefs on holiday) we organize walks in the Tuscan country to pick up and cook wild herbs. CLICK HERE to know more.

L'articolo Fresh pasta before your eyes! Tuscan sauce: mussels and asparagus proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

Couples cooking classes are highly demanded first of all from honeymooners.

Why a Couple Cooking Class?

It’s an intimate, hands-on cooking class experience ending enjoining the fruit of your labor: a delicious dinner for 2!

Anyway, at our Itinerant Cooking School in Tuscany, we really meet any kind of couple: best friends together on vacation, auntie and nephew, brother and sister, mum and daughter/son as well.

You’ve just to contact us and us, Cuoche in Vacanza (Cooks for your Vacation), we’ll do the shopping and come directly come to your Holiday Villa, to wherever you’re staying in Tuscany.

What kind of students in our couples cooking classes?

Our couples cooking classes are designed to offer a learning experience together with fun and hands-on cooking;

Students are curious about making fresh handmade Pasta and Italian Cuisine in general.

Furthermore, they love seasonal and fresh ingredients, local produce.

Our dishes are extremely simple but extremely tasteful as well. As my Granny usually said: “Simple is not easy!”.

Have a look at the gallery just to picture the atmosphere:

Whether you’re a novice or an expert cook, you’ll surely live this learning experience with joy in a warm atmosphere, feeling comfortable to try new foods and ingredients.

Furthermore, you can also purchase a spot to get an Interactive Online Cooking Class, very affordable, with me at your disposal:

Private Couples Cooking Classes duration:

Almost each Private Cooking Class lasts around 3 hours + Lunch/Dinner with the fruit of your labor comfortably sit at the table (we clean up your kitchen)

Everything is happy and relaxed times of your Vacation in Tuscany. 

Couples cooking classes’ favourite Menus

First of all, without any doubt, our students in couples cooking classes choose these:

• Tortellini di Valeggio Menu (Love Knot). Here the Pasta course consists of Tortellini (Click HERE to watch how to make them) filled with ricotta cheese and spinach
• Most popular Italian Sauces for Pasta. We have a lot of pasta sauces in our Menus and in Italy as well. Anyway almost all our customers prefer the followings 4 sauces:

CARBONARA

FRESH PESTO

BUTTER AND CRISPY SAGE

RAGU SAUCE

• Colored (with natural ingredients) Fresh Pasta, where the favorite is Orange Pasta  (colored with tomato paste) and the sauce is Rocket Pesto.

This year, in addition to the Orange (tomato paste) pasta, another color is having great success in couples cooking classes: BROWN (colored with cocoa) Pasta.

As a result of today, I’m writing the recipe about how to make Cocoa (Chocolate) Ravioli.

The most suitable sauce for these is the Crispy Butter and Sage

Take 2 beautiful guys honeymooners who digit on Google the words”cooking classes in Tuscany” and as by magic…we’re already arrived to spend a pleasant culinary time with you!

Finally here is the recipe they made, be ready to taste something particular but really, believe me really, deeeeelicious!

Relevant tips and tricks not to fail:

1. First of all mix the flour with Cocoa Powder (avoiding mistake: adding eggs before mixing)
2. Furthermore, respect the amount of 1 tbsp (level) bitter cocoa each 100 gr (3 oz about) all-purpose flour
3. Finally, grate a very small quantity of orange zest to add to the ricotta cheese for the filling (not more than 1/2 teaspoon for a couple of persons). Too much orange zest will make your filling much more like a dessert than a filling for pasta.
4. Use a tasteful cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano (possibly aged) or Pecorino Romano for the filling. A tasteful cheese is important to contrast the delicate and sweet taste of ricotta cheese.
5. If you don’t know how to make fresh handmade pasta, have a look AT THIS POST

font-weight: bold;”>Cocoa (Brown) Ravioli filled with Ricotta Cheese and Orange Zest

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.com)

Prep time: 1, 30 hour
Cook time: 7 minutes
Total time: 1, 37 hour
Serves: 3

Ingredients

FRESH BROWN PASTA:
200 gr (7 oz) 00 flour (all-purpose flour)
2 eggs (big)
2 tbsp bitter cocoa powder
FILLING:
200 gr (7 oz) Ricotta cheese (better if from sheep)
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
50 gr (3 tbsp) Grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano Cheese
to taste salt and pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl mix the flour with the cocoa
make a hole in the center of the flour and cocoa and pour 2 whole eggs inside
start kneading by hands until reaching a compact and elastic dough (adding water if too dry and flour if too wet)
let the dough rests for about 20 minutes covered (room temperature) with a dish towel
In a large bowl mix the ricotta cheese with grated Parmigiano, salt, and pepper
pour in the orange zest and mix until smooth
Remember: the flavor has to be tasteful, not sweet
put in the fridge
Roll the pasta, first of all, help you with a rolling pin, then with the pasta machine
Roll the fresh pasta (brown) in very thin stripes (usually the number 6 of the rolling pasta machine)
Put the filling over the stripes using a teaspoon and overlap each stripe with filling with another stripe of pasta.
Cut the Ravioli as the shape that you prefer (we used a very nice HEART cutter)
Cook Ravioli in salted boiling water for about 7 minutes
Drain with a perforated spoon skimmer

 couples cooking classes in Tuscany

finally enjoying the fruit of your labour

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L'articolo couples cooking classes: cocoa ravioli from Tuscany to Bermuda! proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

Squid Ink Tagliatelle is one of the most delicious gourmet and unusual ingredients.

So tie your apron strings and invite your family or friends, you can be sure you’re doing a very good impression.

All the people in our company “Cuoche in Vacanza (Cooks for your Vacations)” are addicted to fresh handmade pasta. It’s the protagonist in Private Cooking Classes directly at your holiday home in Tuscany, and in Private Dinners as well.

How could it be different? Our job is with tourists and travelers from all over the world and people like to spend time with fun, first of all on holiday.

Anyway if you have no time for making both pasta and sauce, No problem:

• you can buy squid ink tagliatelle HERE …and the sauce is very quick!

My granny often made “colored” pasta, according to the different ingredients directly added to the pasta dough. When I was a child and she made Squid Ink Tagliatelle I was fascinated by eating something so “common” in Italian Cuisine, but so different at the same time.

Everyone can make fresh pasta, with only 2 ingredients: eggs and flour!

About Squid Ink (if you’re going to make fresh pasta):

1. you can use the fresh one (directly from the main ink sac of fresh squid)
2. you can purchase it (sachet or jar)

They’re both good for colouring pasta. During our cooking classes in Tuscany we use the purchased one, of course.

Want to know how to make Squid Ink Tagliatelle? Click HERE for the Recipe

As I posted a few time ago, you can make different colors of homemade pasta, depending on the ingredients that you add to the pasta dough. For example, you can have fantastic Ravioli Orange Coloured simply adding tomato paste (click HERE for the recipe)

In Italy, we eat pasta every day (most of all dried pasta). Well, for us Italians, colored pasta (obviously with natural and fresh ingredients) it’s a way not to get bored while eating the most famous Italian food: PASTA!

That’s why a few time ago I decided to add to our cooking classes menu a new kind of cooking course: “colored pasta cooking class“.

Our cooking classes are all hands-on and almost all are suitable for children, so what’s better than replicate the “magic” from my granny?

Nowadays I can say that “colored pasta cooking class” is one of the most successful course; making fresh handmade “colored” pasta (as Squid Ink Tagliatelle for example) is really funny and our customers often make it again once at their home and send me the pictures of their dishes.

So what sauce for Squid Ink Tagliatelle?

• Every kind of fish or sea fruit sauce.

I love fresh and seasonal ingredients, so I opted for this sauce: red mullet with fresh rucola and fresh (yes, they’re not cooked) tomatoes. I tasted this sauce for the first time in a really good restaurant in Lucca, I was delighted and immediately made the sauce at home for my family and friends.

All my customers and students in Private Dinners and Cooking Classes in Tuscany know my love for Piccadilly Tomatoes. This kind of tomato has its origins in Sicily and they’re very sweet and juicy and the most suitable for our very appreciated Tuscan Bruschetta.

Well, I think they’re the best for this sauce, any way you can use cherry tomatoes (maybe more easy to find) as well. what you’re going to read it’s in my opinion the best sauce for Squid Ink Tagliatelle, but as I told you, do not hesitate to try any kind of fish (or sea fruit) sauce.

Any questions or suggestions? Do you like this article? Please share it with your friends. Leave a comment and I’ll answer you immediately!

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L'articolo Squid Ink Tagliatelle with red mullet, fresh rucola and piccadilly tomatoes proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.

You know we go all around Tuscany for Private Cooking Classes and Dinners and we often have to face a long way, up to 2,30 hours by car.

Finally, last time they call us just 10 minutes from where I live…alèèè! A beautiful villa near Lucca named villa del papa, located in a Santa Maria del Giudice a small village with many shops where buying all you need.

I already knew the customers who I was looking forward to meeting, they had a “Private Couple Cooking Class” with us, Cuoche in Vacanza (Chefs at your Holiday Home) about 3 years ago and the liked having another class together with their daughter and her boyfriend.

I was so thrilled when they contacted me, we were keeping in touch on our facebook-page and I’ll never forget when, right in the middle of their cookery course, we’ll decide to stop for a while and they taught me to prepare the Real Scottish Porridge!

Like most of our customers and students, they love Fresh Handmade Pasta and like making it for their family and friends. Therefore, with a special Italian sauce, fresh Pasta is one of the most amazing meals you can offer to everyone that you love. Despiting what they say (time-consuming…) you can prepare your pasta and store it for a while;

if you make a not filled pasta (ex: Tagliatelle):

1) you can store it over a tray at room temperature covered with kitchen paper (consuming by 6 days)

2) you can store it in the freezer (put it in a plastic-bag) once dried it at room temperature

if you make pasta with filling (ex: Ravioli, Tortelli…):

1) you have to eat it by 2 days (there’s often ricotta cheese inside)

2) you can store it in freezer in plastic bag: first you put the pasta in freezer over a tray for 30 minutes, than you can take the “semi-frozen” Ravioli and put them inside the plastic bag and store in freezer up to 3 months.

Coloring Pasta with only natural ingredients is possible and funny!

My special customers choosed to learn making:

• Fresh Handmade Pasta ORANGE Ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and fresh Basil and seasoned with Rocket (Rucola) Pesto Sauce and Pinenuts. You know you can “colour” make fresh handmade pasta with many ingredients…here’s the link for black tagliatelle!
• Panzerotti suffed with mozzarella cheese and fresh chopped tomatoes
• Pummarola sauce
• Chocolate Salami

Here’s your recipe about this amazing Italian First course that you can make at your home for your friends and family.

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L'articolo Chef in Tuscany at your Holiday Home and Cookery Course: Fresh Orange Ravioli and Rocket Pesto recipe! proviene da Cooking Classes and Private Chef In Tuscany.