Cooking School in Florence, Italy
If you love to cook and find yourself in a new place, look for a cooking school. It’s a great way to learn more about the food and culture of whatever place you’re visiting. We have been to a few cooking classes, so we knew that when we were lucky enough to find ourselves in Florence for a few days, attending a cooking school was a must.
For this experience, we chose: In Tavola school. They came highly rated and we now know why.
We started off with making dessert. We made none other than the famous Italian dessert, Tiramisu. Our Chef Instructor Niccolo, showed us a fairly easy way to make the tiramisu, using individual ramekins. We first whipped the cream, then whipped the egg yolks with marzipan. We then folded that all together.
What makes the tiramisu special is the espresso that each of the lady fingers is dipped into. It’s so strong but it blends well with the creaminess of the rest of the ingredients.
After dipping the lady fingers in the espresso, it was easy to assemble the rest. The cream mixture is generously placed on top. Finally, we sifted chocolate all over the top. The reason we made them first, is the tiramisu best if it cools in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, allowing the lady fingers to soak up all those delicious flavors.
Next it was time to make the first course. It was a stuffed squash with a fresh tomato basil sauce. The Roma tomatoes were so incredibly fresh, far better than what we get at the local US grocer. To make the sauce, we simply placed peeled garlic cloves, basil and the tomatoes in a pot, where we let it simmer for a while.
We finely chopped the veggies to “stuff” inside the squash. This included eggplant, bell pepper and a potato. They were sauteed in both olive oil and a bit of butter. We added thyme and basil to the veggies, just before finishing simmering.
After cooling for a bit, the sauteed veggies were then mixed with a fresh ricotta. In Italy the cheese is not salted, we learned, so we added a generous amount of both salt and pepper.
These squash looked like little round zucchini. They were a perfect size for a first course. We topped them with a bit of fresh bread crumbs and popped them into the oven to bake.
They turned out very beautiful with the fresh tomato sauce on the side. If we made them again, I would add more herbs, salt and pepper. They were very fresh, but I think could have used a bit more herb flavor. They were fun to try!
Next it was on to the chicken dish. This was called “Farmer’s Chicken.” For this we used pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I think they were more tender and juicy than chicken breasts. We salted and peppered them and then dipped them in flour. We learned to use both olive oil and butter to best manage temperature.
It did not take long to start smelling good. We continued to turn the chicken to evenly brown on all sides.
A trick we learned was to roast the bell pepper in the oven before cooking the chicken. We placed the bell pepper in the oven for about 40 minutes total. It came out soft and juicy. Once it cooled, we cut the bell pepper into strips, removing the stem and seeds.
After the chicken browned, we added the onion, cooking long enough to soften. Then we added salt, pepper and rosemary. Finally we added balsamic vinegar, and this was the game changer, as it really added flavor to the dish. Once that was mixed, we added the bell peppers then simmered for another 10 minutes. It was a super easy dish to make and so delicious.
We also made ravioli. Did I mention this was a very ambitious class? The pasta was a very simple mix of “000” flour, eggs and salt. No power tools here, the pasta was hand cranked to make long thin sheets.
A Unique Filling
The filling for the ravioli’s was a potato, rosemary, garlic and tomato paste mixture. About a teaspoon of the filling was placed on the pasta. Then were then folded over, ready to cut.
Using a traditional cutter, the raviolis were formed and cut. Following that, they were placed in the boiling water for just a few minutes. They were done when they floated to the top.
We were now ready to enjoy this meal where we’d learned and experienced creating with a great chef!
Once we were done cooking, we went down to the cellar of the school to eat our delicious meal. We were served each course, along with some great Italian wine. The best part was that we did not have to do any dishes!
I would highly recommend InTavola cooking school if you are ever looking for a great cooking experience in Florence. We absolutely loved it!
The next day it was time to say good-bye to our friends. We had traveled to 3 countries over three weeks, taking the bucket list adventure of a lifetime! We were sad it was over but grateful for the experience.
