Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Costantino Cicchelli is back in Atlanta, Georgia, to share his extensive Italian gourmet knowledge with Academia Barilla partners Cook’s Warehouse in Decantur, GA for a gourmet class dedicated to “The Art of Italian Gastronomy“.

Live the life of Italian luxury through your sense of smell, sight and taste with a native Italian as your guide. Separate fact from myth as you learn how extra virgin olive oil is produced and what makes a great one. Experience the best of the best featuring extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars, pecorino, Parmigiano Reggiano, Salame di Parma, and Prosciutto di Parma. Taste olive oil like the professionals by sampling 3 DOP extra virgin olive oils from different regions of Italy and learn which types of foods are complimented by each. Understand how balsamic vinegars are produced and aged, and taste the differences.

The discussion and tasting of cheeses focuses on sheep’s milk pecorino and cow’s milk Parmigiano Reggiano. Italian meats like salame and Prosciutto di Parma are cured in a natural way that enhances their flavors. When you taste these authentic products, you’ll be able to select and buy with confidence (which you can also do at our online store if you cannot make it to the Ducantur class).

Save the date (and the location): The Cook’s Warehouse and
Sherlock’s Wine Merchant in Decatur next Thursday, June 12, from 7 PM to 9 PM.
Admission is 55$. The address to the class location is 180 W. Ponce de Leon Avenue
Decatur, GA 30030, a Google Map is provided here below for your driving convenience.

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Five Chef assistants will be in the kitchen 45 minutes before class
to assist all participants with the preparation work, so try to get to the class a bit in advance.

Call
Simone Stevenson
at
The Cook’s Warehouse & Sherlock’s Wine Merchant
for more info at +1 (404) 377-4005 (Store)
or visit Cook’s Warehouse website for more info and a full schedule of culinary classes.

Meet Lynn Novo, a true Italian food lover and a Chef who has studied culinary arts at schools around the world - including most recentlyl at the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma, Italy, where she spent some time studying with a group of students from the American Personal and Private Chef Association.

Lynn Novo is a chef, kitchen manager, and recipe developer. She owns Comfort Sisters, an Atlanta, Georgia based meal service company that plans customized meals and prepares from-scratch home-cooked food for busy executives. Lynn teaches cooking classes that feature food and wine pairings and authentic Italian cuisine, and actively promotes the use of Italian regional, artisanal food products.

She is the chef for the very popular “Wine Makes the Meal” series of classes at The Cook’s Warehouse in Atlanta, where you can also find the full range of Academia Barilla’s gourmet specialty products. As Special Events Coordinator for The Cook’s Warehouse and Sherlock’s Wine Merchant Store in Decatur GA, Lynn manages the showroom kitchen for special events such as the Decatur Book Festival and has assisted celebrity chefs including Scott Peacock, Virginia Willis, Marvin Woods, and Shirley Corriher.

Beside of running all these activities, Lynn is also the host and guide of VIP gourmet trips to the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma - her next gourmet trip to Italy is scheduled for next September 21-26, 2008. If you live in the US SouthWest and want to join Lynn’s group for a guided culinary trip to Italy, we advice that you get in touch with her as soon as possible, as space is limited, and reservations are running out!

In this post are some pictures of Lynn with some fellow travelers at her latest passage from Parma, engaging in a culinary session, but also enjoying the results of the cooking.

Do you want to get in touch with Lynn Novo? Just call +1 (678) 693-4133, or try to catch up with her in person tracking her calendar of events at the Cook’s Warehouse in Atlanta, where she proposes her exploration of the food of Emilia-Romagna, the heartland of Italy.

This evening, Thursday April 24 from 7pm to 9pm, Lynn will be the host of a gourmet event in Decatur, during which she will share with participants recipes highlights, her Italian cooking experience, and her deep knowledge on food ingredients of the region.

Lynn’s Emilia-Romagna-inspired menu includes both Parmigiano-Reggiano with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (Parmigiano Cheese with aged Balsamic Vinegar) and Funghi Marinati (Marinated Mushrooms) with Salame di Finocchio (Sausage with fennel) as antipasti.

Then, Lynn follows not with one but with two pasta dishes: Tagliatelle al Prosciutto (Egg Pasta with Prosciutto di Parma and Cheese) and Maltagliati alla Bolognese, which features a Bolognese style Meat Ragu.

Space is limited (capacity: 25), so call Lynn Novo now to secure your reservation! The address is 180 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, 30030 Decatur, GA. Driving directions? Google Map here below for your convenience.

Experience Italy with Lynn Novo, in Atlanta with Lynn’s signature foods, or in Parma at the Academia Barilla Culinary School!

Say buongiorno again to Chef Matteo Carboni of the Academia Barilla Culinary School, who’s back on Italian food Lovers to introduce the Ingredient of the Month for the month of March ending today: the sunny, Mediterranean eggplant (aubergine for our readers in the UK and Australia).

Today Chef Matteo Carboni will show not only how to cut an eggplant in thin slices, but also how to make a perfect and easy finger food dish in few minutes, with the help of few other ingredients: extra virgin olive oil (Academia Barilla’s Monti Iblei, of course), grated Pecorino cheese (try Academia Barilla’s Pecorinos from Tuscany or Sardinia for an authentic Italian flavor) and Prosciutto di Parma.

Add chives as final touch for presentation, and a arucula salad on a side, and you have the perfect antipasto.

Check out the video recipe!

Chef Carboni first slices the eggplants, then spread some extra virgin olive oil on both sides of each slice before grilling them for two minutes max on a pre-heated grill.

While the eggplant slices are still hot off the grill, Chef Carboni sprinkles some grated Pecorino cheeses, then pairs the slice with a slice of Prosciutto di Parma, and carefully roll them together, using chives to secure each roll, adding a final touch of flavor and presentation.

CHEF TIPS:

Serve it with an arucula salad (rocket salad) on a side, adding just some Italian extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic Must of Modena aged 8 years, like the one you can find at the Academia Barilla online store.

Today we have another yummy pasta recipe from the Academia Barilla Culinary School, an easy recipe for a delicious gourmet pasta, Tagliatelle with cream of walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, olives and prosciutto di Parma.

Ref: The source of the image above is the already quoted Marianne Paquin’s cookbook “La cucina degli innamorati” (Lover’s Cuisine), edited by Fabbri Editori, and available at the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library in Parma, Italy.

Ready to cook? Print this recipe or take the laptop with you to the kitchen, we are ready to go!

TAGLIATELLE WITH CREAM OF WALNUTS, HAZELNUTS, PISTACHIOS, OLIVES AND PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA
(serves 2)

INGREDIENTS

- 1/2 lb fresh tagliatelle
- 2 slices of Academia Barilla Prosciutto di Parma
- 4 walnuts
- 8 peeled hazelnuts
- 12 peeled pistachios
- 8 green olives (without the pit)
- 7 tablespoons of cream
- 2 tablespoons Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure DOP extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes

Chop the walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios and olives together. Cut the slices of Academia Barilla Prosciutto di Parma into strips.

Stir the cream, Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure DOP extra virgin olive oil, mixture of chopped nuts, salt and pepper into the serving plate.

Cook the Tagliatelle in salted boiling water. When ready (check the cooking time on package), drain the pasta and pour it in the serving dish, stir gently and add the Academia Barilla Prosciutto di Parma strips. Serve immediately.

CHEF TIPS

Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in the cooking water so the pasta doesn’t stick together.

We really like interactive stuff, especially when it’s related to Italian food, of course. So we couldn’t help but notice that our friends of Barilla USA published a nice interactive minisite called Discover Barilla, that you can easily find at www.discoverbarilla.com.

The website, with catchy graphics that remind of Italian traditional cookbooks and authentic popular cooking, presents a virtual gastronomic and culinary tour of some among the top gourmet (and cultural) destinations across Italy. An itinerary that will take the online book readers on a trip starting in Parma to proceed to Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Verona, Tuscany, Umbria, Naples and Amalfi.

At each destination the book will unveil local gastronomy traditions, and reports local traditional recipes as well as a review of local restaurants where you can surely enjoy traditional local gourmet cuisine.

We explored for you one of the gourmet itinerary, and of course is… Parma! The Discover Barilla book gives an overview of the city in a page that includes slideshows of images and videos, before introducing to local specialties such as Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma, and presenting two local recipes (two new regional recipes are provided at each destination of the Discover Barilla virtual culinary tour).

The Discover Barilla recipe we explored for you is Barilla Farfalle with Prosciutto and Green Peas.

BARILLA FARFALLE WITH PROSCIUTTO AND GREEN PEAS
(a traditional recipe proposed by Discover Barilla)

INGREDIENTS

- 1 box Barilla Farfalle
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cups prosciutto, cut into strips
- 1 1/2 cups green peas (may use frozen)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups half-an-half
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Cook Farfalle according to package directions.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes

Add the prosciutto and peas, sauté 3 minutes.

Add white eine, simmer until mixture has reduced by about half.

Stir in half-half and heavy whipping cream, season with salt and black pepper; simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Drain pasta, toss with the sauce.

Stir in Parmesan cheese before serving.

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Thank you Barilla USA and DiscoverBarilla.com for the recipe. We invite you to browse them all, and also have a look at the final section of the Discover Barilla online book, which is of course about discovering Barilla, its family, history and traditions.

Enjoy the virtual Italian gourmet trip, and stand by for a calendar of the real gastronomy and gourmet tours offered by Academia Barilla - we’ll publish soon our 2008 calendar of gourmet events!