Cooking up an Italian meal

After returning from my travels around Northern Italy, I was inspired to cook an authentic meal for my family as a thank you for their continuous loveliness and support. Please forgive my lack of pictures... as usual I was very forgetful in capturing my creations!

My two day cooking mission began by making some homemade pesto. I used a BBC Good Food recipe but doubled the ingredients to make almost two jars worth. I felt the parmesan was too strong so added another handful of basil and a clove of garlic to the blender. 

Next up I made the puddings. Tiramisu would have been an obvious choice for an Italian meal however with me and my Mum having allergies to coffee it didn't seem the best idea! Instead I stuck to chocolate and attempted a triple chocolate mousse. Having never made mousse before I was a bit sceptical but once I got into the flow of whipping up billions of egg whites it wasn't so bad. 

I did find that adding an egg yolk and milk to the chocolate, even when it was cooled, made it go slightly grainy but once I added the egg whites it mixed in fine. Just make sure to stir it slowly! I changed up the recipe slightly and added some chopped hazelnuts on top of the dark chocolate layer. 

I then finished off the mousses just before serving with some whipped cream, strawberries, raspberries and some homemade shortbread biscuits I decorated with dark chocolate.

The next day I began by getting stuck into baking a ciabatta bread. I researched for a recipe that didn't ask for a dough hook or insane hours of proving and discovered 'Crepes of Wrath', a blog which I will definitely be following for more recipes! Never having made bread before, I made sure to stick to the instructions. Agreeing with many of the reviews, my ciabatta was very flat and also took a lot longer to cook however it was deliciously chewy and crusty on the outside. I would recommend!

Next up was making homemade pasta. I was given a pasta machine as a birthday present last year so it was the perfect opportunity to give it a go! I opted for tagliatelle and doubled up on the recipe. 

Once I got into it, it was quite easy and good fun. Just make sure to flour the machine and your pasta dough well so that each strand separates easily!

On the evening, my family were greeted with a glass of prosecco (my favourite drink of Italy) served by head waitress Elsie, and enjoyed various antipasto whilst I cooked up the starter.

I choose to make 'Melanzane alla parmigiana', a traditional Italian tower of aubergine, tomato and mozzarella topped with a basil infused olive oil dressing. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo however it looked almost exactly like Gino D'Acampo's and was delicious! 

My cooking marathon ended by putting together my main course, creamy pesto tagliatelle with prawns and courgette. This dish was inspired by my favourite meal during my travels, eaten at a family run restaurant down one of Venice's many alleys. I used the recipe as a guideline, adding less cream and topping my dish with courgette, pine nuts and basil leaves. 

It was incredibly easy to make and absolutely lovely, I would highly recommend!

After desserts I finished the evening by showing my pictures of my Italian adventure and reminiscing on each experience.