So I am now officially an Italian chef. Marta, Antonio, and I spent the day making panzerotti, which is basically tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil wrapped up in dough and fried in oil. Everything was fresh, as always. The basil came from the plant on the deck and the pomodoro (tomato sauce) came from my great Aunt Maria’s secret stash. In every house, the garage has a shelf that contains bottle after bottle of last season’s tomatoes that have been boiled and then packed into the perfect serving size. No salt, no chemicals. I like to call it the Italian preservative: tomatoes, boiling water, and a little bit of love.
My job was to stuff and seal the panzerotti after Antonio rolled the dough. When all was said and done, we had made enough for about 10 people, but the three of us sure did a number on the batch.
All in all, I was very satisfied with my first Italian kitchen experience, although I should probably leave it up to the professionals…