The Last Supper. Ciao Italia!

Today is our last day and we spend it cooking with Fausto.  Several years ago, he was on the food network when Tyler Florence came to cook with Fausto.  Today we prepared a whole meal in which we would enjoy for dinner later on.  Amazing how different the foods are in each region.  For instance, when making bread today they use milk in the place of water.  Making a tart dough milk and olive oil are used.   

We are given separate tasks.   Don and Cindy made Gnocchi, Tom made a pumpkin, leek and mushroom soup.  Jeff made a wonderful apple tartin.  Buck made ceci bean polenta that is fried.  I chopped herbs to be used in the pansoti, which are filled with wild herbs that grow in the garden.   My job was to squeeze out all of the excess water from the herbs and put through then in a food mill.  This dough made for the pasta was made with egg yolks, flour and milk.  

Fausto showed us how to make the pesto, after which he adds about a cup of ricotta to his sauce, something I will have to try!  Angelo and Mike Made little tarts filled with asparagus and another with spinach. Mike got the job to make the little hazelnut candies as well.   Jeff and I both took turns stretching the the dough for the foccia; not what you would think of as foccia.  This is a thin layer of dough made with strachino cheese another  layer of thin dough and then holes on the top and some milk then baked. Then there was another foccia made with bread dough.   That one had red onions sliced thin then put into a bowl of water with a little vinegar, this was interesting because the onions did not loose their flavor.  After this was all done, we sat outside and had both of the foccia to taste the difference. 

In the evening, we enjoyed our last supper in Rapallo. The meal we prepared was excellent!   What a wonderful way to end our culinary wine tour of this region. 

After dinner, I had a chance to talk with our relatives who live in northern Italy.   It is difficult when we don't speak the language fluently, but we seem to manage just the same.    Tomorrow morning we are headed back to Ohio.   What a glorious journey and pleasure this has been.