We love Cooking Class Saturdays at Amici Miei! It is an event that we look forward to both because of the great food and wine, and also because of the camaraderie of the "regulars" who show up along with the new folks.

This class was no exception. This time, Chef Davide was inspired by some food he had on a recent trip to Italy. The menu included walnut-crusted shrimp with a delicious homemade orange mayonnaise as an appetizer, burrata-filled ravioli with scallops sauce as the primi, veal tenderloin with caciocavallo and a red wine reduction as the secondi, and then topped off with sweet ricotta accompanied by "cat's tongue cookies" as the dessert.

When preparing the dishes, Chef does not go in order. The dessert was made first, baking lovely light "cookies" and then preparing the sweet ricotta. The ricotta had chocolate chips and orange liquor. The cookie dough is piped onto a cookie sheet, which was cause for joking as to who could follow Chef Davide's instructions the best ("3 inches long, 3/4 inches wide, 2-3 inches apart, not too thick and not too thin")! And sure enough, when the cookie is baked, it does come out in the shape of a tongue!

Chef Davide oversees the creation of the cat tongue cookies.

The next item to be made was the shrimp with the mayonnaise, since the homemade mayonnaise had to be refrigerated a bit. Lots of stirring on that, as one has to heat the eggs in order to pasteurize them ("If it flies, 165!"). Chef made the mayonnaise even more interesting by adding orange juice and a bit of plain Greek yogurt to that as a dip. The shrimp were covered with a minced walnut and breadcrumb coating, then quickly fried. Oh my!

Creating the mayonnaise by cooking the eggs and mixing with olive oil.

The next preparation was the veal tenderloin. The veal was seared in a very hot pan, then set aside while Chef reduced red wine along with several spices. A touch of brandy to deglaze the veal pan, along with the wine reduction and then a drop of heavy cream. Finally, the veal is added back to the sauce, topped with the grated caciocavallo (a wonderfully mild cow cheese from southern Italy).

The last to be prepared was the ravioli. Burrata is similar to mozzarella, just much smoother and creamier. A small spoonful into the ravioli dough creates the base. Scallops are cooked in garlic-scented olive oil, along with a small amount of red chili pepper. The scallops are pureed in a food processor to create the sauce.

So how did it all taste?

Amazing, as usual. Chef Davide and Roberto (co-owner and manager) paired the shrimp with a lovely Prosecco. The bubbly, yeasty wine was a great foil to the fried shrimp, and the apple notes in the Prosecco went well with the orange-flavored mayonnaise.

Shrimp and the dipping mayonnaise along with Prosecco.

The ravioli was up next, paired with an Irpinia Falanghina 2012. This is a lovely white wine made from the ancient Falanghina Greco grape which comes from the area around Mt. Vesuvius and Naples. It has a great mineral and floral aroma and taste. The sweet burrata in the ravioli brought out a bit more acidity in the wine, and the scallops matched with the fuller body of the wine to make a super combination.

The burrata-filled ravioli along with the pureed scallop sauce.

Next was the veal. Chef and Roberto paired that with a very nice 2011 Puglian wine called Neprica from the Tormaresco winery. Neprica is made from a combination of Negro Amaro, Primitivo (which is Zinfandel in the US), and Cabernet Sauvignon. Ergo, the name decoded - Ne-Pri-Ca! It was a wonderful combination with the veal and red wine sauce, as the wine was medium-bodied with a great dark fruit flavor along with mild tannins and a nice complexity, and almost a hint of chocolate. Really delicious! And the wine only costs about $13-15!

Veal medallions with caciocavallo cheese melted on top.

Negro Amaro, Primitivo, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes make up this delicious wine.

Finally, dessert. One of the other attendees had the sweet ricotta with Gran Marnier, and he said it was just fabulous. On its own, the dessert was just delightful (we had cappuccinos with our dessert!). And as usual, we all waddled out to enjoy a food coma-induced snooze! I really need to get a walk in this evening! What are we doing next month, Chef??

The baked cat tongue cookies make a great spoon for the sweet ricotta.