Perfect Italiano Masterclass

I was so thrilled to attend the Perfect Italiano Masterclass earlier this month and had a fab morning cooking with fellow bloggers whom I’m already good friends with. Cooking as a group in the same space is a luxury that doesn’t come around very often coz who, after all, has a huge kitchen with multiple stovetops and plenty of extra space to spare. You know cooking can be hazardous when people with knifes and handling hot stuff are confined in a cramped space! (If you do have such a spacious kitchen, please lemme know as I’d totes love to check that out.) Another luxury in cooking, which I enjoy extremely much – particularly during cooking clases – is having KAs (ie. kitchen assistants) who do all the mies en place in advance and also take care of all the dishwashing afterwards. Ha, that’s the bestest for me! I am not fond of washing dishes.

On with the masterclass!

The Perfect Italiano Masterclass was helmed by Chef Lino Sauro, Owner of Gattopardo. His culinary experience spans 25 years, including Head Chef and Resident Chef positions in 4 and 5-star hotels in Italy and Singapore. In this masterclass, he demonstrated and guided us along in creating three dishes that are best described as a fusion of East and West flavours. I am sharing the recipes below for you to try out at home, if you’re so inclined but before I get to that, lemme bombard you with pictures that were taken in the kitchen during our cooking session first. You may find some of the bloggers featured below familiar; many of them are good pals of mine and if you’ve been following my Instagram too, you probably have seen them in my photo feed before.

After seeing so many photos above, you’re probably wondering what the heck did we actually cook and make that day? You saw prawns, cheese, sushi, salmon, seaweed, spices, breadcrumbs, etc. Mystery no more – we made three dishes that morning: Wonton Ravioli with Soya Marinated Prawns and Parmesan Fondue, Rice Roll with Mozzarella Cheese and Salmon, Deep Fried Potato with Mozzarella Cheese.

The recipes are below, please lemme know what you think after you try making these dishes!

Wonton Ravioli with Soya Marinated Prawns and Parmesan Fondue

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
100g Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese
100g Anchor unsalted butter
20 pcs of wonton skin (square shaped)
20g light soya sauce
30g olive oil
2 garlic cloves
110g full cream milk
1 stalk of spring onion
20g white wine
10 pcs of tiger prawns

Steps

1. Peel and marinate prawns with soya, garlic, olive oil and spring onion.

2. Make Parmesan fondue by mixing Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese, milk, butter and white wine.

3. Warm up mixture in a bain-marie till creamy and season with white pepper.

4. Fill wonton with prawn. Seal nicely. Put in boiling water for 3 min.

5. Pour fondue on plate and lay down the ravioli.

6. Season with Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese and spring onion.

Rice Roll with Mozzarella Cheese and Salmon

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
250g Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese
200g sushi rice
4 sheets of nori (seaweed)
150g cured/smoked salmon
100g cucumber (cut into strips)
50g rice vinegar
5g wasabi
200g mayonnaise

Steps

1. Place a sheet of nori on bamboo mat.

2. Spread and flatten rice on top of nori.

3. Lay down salmon, cucumber and Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese in the middle.

4. Hold on to the ends of the bamboo mat and roll, making sure that the ingredients are held inside it.

5. Remove bamboo mat and cut rice roll by one inch.

6. Warm up rice roll to melt Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese.

7. Serve with mayonnaise and/or wasabi.

Deep Fried Potato with Mozzarella Cheese

Serves 4. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
200g Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese
50g corn starch
50g onion (chopped)
5g cinnamon
5g ground black pepper
5g curry powder
2 eggs
4 garlic cloves
30g lemongrass (minced)
20g shallots (minced)
300g Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)
Lemon zest
Oil to fry

Steps

1. Shred potatoes in food processor and place in strainer. Sprinkle with salt. Drain for 15 min.

2. Mix dry seasonings.

3. Squeeze potatoes dry and place in mixing bowl.

4. Add cornstarch and mix thoroughly. Add all remaining ingredients (except panko crumbs and oil) and mix well.

5. Add Perfect Italiano Mozzarella Grated Cheese. Drop a tablespoon mixture into the panko crumbs. Coat all the way around.

6. Heat oil in pan. Lower patties into oil and flatten patties with a spatula. Patties should be 2 inches across.

7. Fry until crisp and golden on the bottom. Fry the other side.

8. Drain and ready to serve.

9. Serve with sweet and sour sauce.

If you’re eager to start using Perfect Italiano in your daily cooking, here’s a limited time and exclusive Trial Pack Promotion for my blog readers.

Simply fill out the following info (1. Name of blog you heard this promotion from. 2. Your name. 3. NRIC. 4. Email address. 5. Contact number) and email to perfectitalianosg@gmail.com before 21 March 2013, to receive a trial packet of Perfect Italiano Parmesan Grated Cheese (100g). This promotion is limited to the FIRST 25 READERS* only so hurry and email them ASAP. That’s it, no purchase necessary and no strings attached.