In 1995 we spent July and August in Italy…..in Montecchio, a small  town on the Adriatic side of the country.  We were living with my cousin and his family and we had signed up for italian classes at the Language Institute in Urbino (a really beautiful walled city).  The daily grind of classes and the exuberant summer nightlife that is just normal in Italy coupled with  the prospect of a family wedding to end the season, nearly did us in…….but we loved every second of it.  I learned so much that summer…..and not just language. I learned how to live an italian life and a terrific byproduct of that summer was a master class whenever I entered the kitchen……here’s an example::

Friday, August 11, 1995

The pace is picking up everywhere….school, home…..and we are wearing out rapidly.   The wedding is just weeks away, our intensive language course will soon end and we are hopelessly behind with homework.  We dash off to school….valiantly stay focused in class, dash home for a soothing lunch of spaghetti with ragu piccante, green salad, watermelon.  No nap today, however, because Irma (Giancarlo’s mom) is going to make cappelletti and ravioli with a group of friends and i’ve been invited to watch.

It’s fascinating…..Irma and three of her lady friends have congregated in her kitchen and they’re having coffee as I arrive.  They are all of a certain age, smartly dressed (skirts, blouses, earrings, bracelets, heels, makeup in place) and when the coffee break is done, they all tie on the aprons and hand one to me, too.  Such a scandal that I am not in the habit of reaching for an apron when kitchen work is about to begin.   

Pasta Clinic

Anyway, while they chatter away, out comes the very large pasta board and the work begins:

Pasta Intensive Clinic

Pasta Dough for cappelletti and ravioli:

6 eggs and 500 grams farina (flour)

That’s it.  That’s all they did.  You make a well with the flour and put the eggs into the center.   Mis with a fork and then work the dough with your hands.  If it’s  needed, you can add another egg.  and you can sprinkle on some flour if the dough is too wet.

The dough is separated into a couple of workable rounds, and then the work begins with the rolling pin.   It’s an art, really, to watch the rhythm of the rolling pin, snapping back and forth with each rotation the dough gets a bit thinner until it’s just the right thickness to be formed into pasta shapes.   Throughout this process, there’s gentle conversation going on….some of it dishing on others, such as “her pasta is always too hard”….and after a while, I just disappear and they forget that i’m there at all.  

One pasta round gets rolled into a giant circle….and then, in a regimented lineup, one half of the circle is covered with ricotta stuffing which is piped in using a pastry bag.  When the entire half circle is dotted with these little mounds, the other half of the dough circle is folded over the top of them and a dish towel is slapped softly to seal the top dough to the bottom.   A serrated cutting wheel tool is then used to separate each little mound, which is now a perfectly formed ravioli.

Another round is treated the same way, but this one is cut into little squares and each one is dotted with a meat mixture and then carefully folded into the shape of a little hat, hence the name cappelletti.

If there is any dough left over, it’s rolled into a cylinder shape and sliced into ribbons to be used as tagliatelli.  Nothing goes to waste.

Ricotta Filling for the Ravioli
Ricotta, one-half kilo
Spinsvh, 1 kilo, cooked, drained well, chopped
Eggs, 2, beaten
Grated parmesan, 6 tablespoons
Mix all ingredients well and use a pastry bag to pipe mixture into the ravioli.

Meat Filling for the Cappelletti:  
Brown chop meat well along with diced onion in a bit of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper and let cool.  Use to stuff cappelletti.  Amount will vary according to how many cappelletti you have made

As if all of this wasn’t enough, tonight we must go back to Urbino to our school dinner party…..it’s a big do, way bigger than we thought….a catered affair with students encouraged to bring guests.  Lasagne, prosciutto and melon, crescia, tomatoe salad, watermelon, biscottini and vin santo, and of course, a lot of wine.  We get home at 2:30am, just in time for a few hours of sleep before we dash out the door to class at 7:30!!!