In this lesson, students made bruschetta. (Image courtesy of Graham Gordon Ramsay.) In this lesson, you will learn:
How to prepare:
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Lesson 6
Watch a video:
Lesson 6, Part 2:Cooking Instruction
Melanzane alla Parmigiana/Eggplant Parmesan
This is a light version. In the classic recipe, the eggplant is deep friend (alone or dipped in egg and covered with bread crumbs.)
Ingredienti per 4-6 persone
- Two large melanzane/eggplants
- One spicchio d’aglio/ garlic clove
- One L di passata di pomodoro/plain strain tomatoes, we used 1.5 box of Pomì
- Parmigiano grattuggiato (grated, about 100 g, but decide by eye and taste)
- Mozzarella grattuggiato (grated) or a fette (in slices), about 1 cup
- Basilico fresco /resh basil, a few leaves
- sale/salt
- zucchero/sugar
- Spices of your choice (e.g. red crushed pepper, nutmeg)
Procedimento/Directions
- Wash the eggplants and cut them; max one centimeter thick.
- Let the the eggplant slices sit in a colander covered with abundant coarse salt. You can make many layers of eggplant and salt: this procedure removes the bitterness from the melanzane.
- After 30 minutes, drain, rinse very well, and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Grill the eggplant slices at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes (or more, based on the thickness). Alternatively, grill them in a nonstick pan without oil on the stove or on the bbq.
- In the meantime, prepare a tomato sauce with a soffritto of garlic.
- Cover the bottom of a baking dish with the tomato sauce.
- Place a layer of eggplant over the sauce.
- Sprinkle with grated mozzarella, grated parmesan, and basil leaves (as a whole or minced, as you wish)
- Repeat to make 3-4 layers ending with sauce
- Top with the remaining mozzarella and parmigiano
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes.
Le melanzane alla parmigiana is delicious eaten immediately and the day after is even meglio/better. Prova/Try!
La Bruschetta/Le Bruschette
Pronunciation: Remember: che in Italian reads keh in English. Pronounce brus-keh-te.
Listen to the pronunciation:
Ingredienti
- One baguette, or better some pugliese or toscano bread (one large crusty loaf)
- Two pomodori/tomatoes or a large handful of pomodorini/cherry tomatoes
- One spicchio d’aglio/garlic clove
- Basilico fresco/fresh basil, a few leaves
- Sale/Salt
- Olio extravergine d’oliva/extra virgin olive oil
Procedimento/Directions
- Chop the tomatoes and mix in a bowl with salt, olive oil and basil (You can use the whole leaves or mince them, as you prefer).
- Cut the bread in disks and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes (400 degrees F). During the summer you can grill the bread on the bbq.
- Option 1: rub the garlic on the toasted bread
- Option 2: add the garlic (as a whole or minced) to the tomato mix. Leave in the fridge for at least a few hours.
- You can either put the chopped tomatoes on the bread yourself, or for a big group, you can serve the bowl on one side, the bread on another, and let everyone help themselves.
Buon appetito!
Spezzatino in Bianco/Beef Stew
Spezzatino means “little broken thing” = stew. In bianco refers to the fact that we are not using tomatoes. This is my mom’s recipe! If you serve it with polenta, then I suggest to make it without potatoes.
Ingredienti per 4 persone
- One kg (about 2.2 lb) of manzo/beef for stew
- 1/2 cipolla/onion
- One spicchio d’aglio /garlic clove
- One carota/carrot
- One stalk of sedano/celery
- Two patate/potatoes
- One twig of rosmarino/rosemary
- A couple of leaves of alloro/bay leaves
- One dado/bouillon cube
- Olio d’oliva
- Sale
- Optional: Two pomodori/tomatoes/ or passata di pomodoro (e.g. Pomì)
Precedimento
- Chop the carrot, onion, celery and garlic.
- Put in a pressure cooker with a little olive oil over low flame to make a sweat (soffritto). Then add the meat and the bouillon cube.
- When the meat outside is brown (extra step: in a few years, add a glass of wine and let it evaporate) cover with water and add the [whole] rosemary twig, bay leaves, and if you want other spices.
- Close the pressure cooker and pressurize (i.e. until the pressure cooker begins to whistle), cook for about 10-15 minutes.
- Depressurize, add the potatoes (washed and cut in big chunks) and cook again under pressure for another 10-15 minutes.
- If you use a regular pot or a slow cooker, cook at low heat for 2-3 hours, covered, mixing from time to time. While it cooks you can do your Physics homework ;)
- If most of the water has evaporated, simply add water (you can make the stew more or less thick based on your taste).
- When it is ready (be sure that both meat and potatoes are cooked and so soft that you can cut them with a fork) add salt if needed.
- You can make the sauce more creamy by mixing a spoon of sifted flour.
Buon appetito!
Lezione Numero Sei /Lesson Number Six
Watch two videos:
Lesson 6, Part 1: Vocabulary and Sentences
Lesson 6, Part 3: Closing Lecture
Lecture
- Oggi è domenica diciotto marzo duemiladodici (3/18/2012). Today is Sunday, March 18, 2012.
- Domani, lunedì diciannove marzo, è la festa del papà. Il 19/3 è il giorno di San Giuseppe. Tomorrow, Monday, March 19, is Father’s Day. March 19 is Saint Joseph’s Day, that’s why we celebrate Father’s Day on this specific day.
- Mio nonno (my grandpa) si chiama Giuseppe: il diciannove marzo è anche (also) il suo onomastico. Auguri doppi (double felicitations)! My grandpa is named Joseph. March 19 is also his name day. Double happinesss!
- Giovedì scorso (last Thursday) we tried to speak only Italian during class.
Listen to audio for Lesson 6
Leggi, ascolta e ripeti./ Read, listen, and repeat.
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Ecco qui! | Here it is! (Literally, “here here”.) |
| Grazie (mille). | Thank you (a thousand.) |
| Prego. | You’re welcome. (Literally “I pray”.) |
| Di niente. | You’re welcome. (Literally, “of nothing”.) |
| Posso usare il coltello? | Can I use the knife? |
| Prego. | In this context, it means “Please do.” |
| Scusa, non ho capito. Puoi ripetere per favore? | Sorry, I did not understand. Can you repeat please? |
- Scusa stands for “tu scusami=scusa me"= 2nd person singular exhortative present of the reg. verb scusare, to excuse, forgive=excuse me. Scusa also means sorry (e.g. if you accidentally bump into someone; to get someone’s attention; you didn’t hear what someone said; you said something inappropriate)
- Mi scusi (=lei mi scusi formal for scusa, excuse me)
- Posso = 1st person singular present of the irr. verb potere (can)
Puoi = 2nd person singular present of the irr. verb potere (can) - Mi = me/ to me
- Ho capito = 1st person singular passato prossimo (present perfect) of the irr. verb capire (to understand)
Esercizi/Exercises
Note: Use the audio file below for the first exercise.
Ascolta e ripeti./Listen and repeat.
Esercizi/Exercises (MP3 - 3.2MB)
Use the map of Rome for the following section.
Person 1: Mi scusi, dov’è la Fontana di Trevi?
Person 2: Come?
Person 1: Dov’è la Fontana di Trevi, per favore?
Person 2: Siamo in piazza dei Cinquecento. Prenda la bla bla bla…
Person 1: Mi scusi non capisco. Può parlare più lentamente per favore?
Person 2: Certo. Siamo in piazza dei Cinquecento. Prenda la prima a sinistra,poi deve girare a destra in via Depretis. Da qui vada sempre dritto: via Depretis diventa via Quattro Fontane; deve passare molti incroci. Giri a sinistra in via del Tritone. Dopo circa 300 metri prenda la via a sinistra ed è arrivato/a.
Person 1: È lontana?
Person 2: No, è vicina, circa 20 minuti a piedi.
Person 1: Grazie mille.
Person 2: Di niente, arrivederci!
Vocabulary:
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Non capisco. | I do not understand. |
| Può | Can you? (formal) |
| Più | More |
| Lentamente | Slowly |
| Certo | Of course |
| Piazza | Place |
| Prenda | Take (2nd person singular, formal) |
| A sinistra | On the left |
| A destra | On the right |
| Deve | (You) have to (formal) |
| Girare | To turn |
| Via | Street |
| Da | From |
| Qui | Here (qui or qua are both correct) |
| Vada | Go (2nd person singular, formal) Andare= To go |
| Sempre dritto | Straight ahead (Literally, always straight) |
| Diventare | To become |
| Incrocio |
Crossing (m) passare or better attraversare un incrocio = cross a crossing |
| Molti | Many (masculine plural, referred to incroci) |
| Dopo | After |
| Ed=e | And |
| È arrivato/a | You arrived, literally have arrived |
| Lontano/a | Far |
| Vicino/a | Near |
| A piedi | On foot (piede = foot) |
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