Made with Love, Cook Along with Chef Viviana

Join Animal Friends and Chef Viviana on Saturday, Feb. 13 for the perfect Valentine's date night at home. Chef Viviana is eager to host you and your two- our four-legged Valentine on Zoom as she walks you through step by step to make Mondo Italiano's delicious Caramelle. Caramelle means "candies" in Italian, and this pasta shape is named not because of the flavor, but the form. When fashioned correctly, they resemble the kind of joyful confections you might have found inside an apothecary jar in a bygone drogheria.

Have kids?  Read below for details on Made with Love for kids.

What You'll Need 

Equipment

• Pasta Sheeting Machine or a Rolling Pin 
• A Pastry/Pasta Cutter Wheel
• A Deep Pot or Something Similar
• A Food Processor (alternatively, an immersion blender)
• A Piece of String to String the Herbs together (optional)
• A Tipless Pastry Pag (alternative: a ziplock bag) (optional) 
• A Small Paintbrush for Applying Luster Dust to the Pasta (optional)

Filling Ingredients

• 2 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 Small Shallot, Diced
• 1 Small Carrot, Diced
• 1 Celery Rib, Diced
• 2 c Water + 1 Vegetable Broth Boullion (for a non Vegetarian option add 1 chicken broth boullion)
• ½ c Lentils
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2" Stem of Rosemary
• 3 Cloves
• ½ lb Potato, Peeled and Chopped
• 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Black Pepper
• For a non Vegetarian option add ½ lb fresh pork sausage, chopped

Pasta Ingredients

• 3 Cups of Flour (double zero or all-purpose will both work fine)
• 4 Large Eggs
• ½ tsp Gold Luster Dust (optional) found online or in baking supplies stores))
• 1 tsp High Alcohol Spirit such as Grappa or Vodka (optional/to apply gold luster dust)

For The Kids

Want to participate in Made with Love but need to entertain the kids too? Don't worry, Chef Viviana has created a special Intro to Pasta Making video for the young chefs to follow along and create their own pasta dish. Pici is a thick, hand-rolled pasta (think fat spaghetti!) originating in Tuscany. This is an activity that will surely satisfy not only their appetites but their desire to make pasta too! 

What You'll Need

Tools for Pasta and Red Sauce

A Bowl

A Fork

Working Surface

Measuring Cup or Food Scale

Large Pot

Wooden Spoon

Pasta Drainer

Ingredients for the Pasta

2.5 Cups Flour

150mL Lukewarm Water

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Semolina Flour for Dusting

Ingredients for the Red Sauce

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic

1 lb can of Tomato Puree or Diced Tomatoes 

1 Cube of Vegetable or Chicken Buillion

Pinch of Salt

4 - 5 Leaves of Basil

Optional: A sprinking of parmigiano cheese

About Our Chef

Italian-born Viviana Altieri is the Founder and Executive Director of Istituto Mondo Italiano, located in Regent Square.

After coming to Pittsburgh and having a prosperous career in corporate America where she globe-trotted the world, she opened the doors of Istituto Mondo Italiano with the goal of welcoming and satisfying the needs of the Italian community in Pittsburgh as well as the interest and curiosity of anyone who loves Italy.

Mondo Italiano currently offers language, interpretation, and translation services and their popular cooking classes where you will see Viviana explaining the origins of the recipe presented, as well as tips, and tricks for best execution, in a friendly way.

Between the months of March and June of 2020, she has presented over 250 authentic Italian recipes over Facebook on a daily basis, and now, you can still catch her on Fridays at noon, going live with a new recipe.

If you have any questions or want to get in touch with Viviana: Email: [email protected]

or visit Istituto Mondo Italiano's website to sign up for a cooking or language class: www.istitutomondoitaliano.org