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Standing around a long, white table, a group of 10 children mixed flour, eggs, olive oil and water to make a smooth dough, which would become the pastry for an apple-filled dessert, strudel di mele.
“It feels squishy,” said Penelope Thauvin, 9, of White River Junction, as she kneaded.
It was the third day of a three-day cooking class for kids run by Irene Fondriest, a native of Trentino-Alto Adige in the Italian Dolomites, an alpine region where, as in New England, apples are abundant.
Wall decorations in the bright, window-lit room included a map of Italy, allowing Fondriest to point out her hometown, which sits in the northeastern part of the country, bordering Austria.
Fondriest, who moved to the Upper Valley in 2009 with her family when her husband took a job teaching computer science at Dartmouth College, is a trained attorney, but began offering an afterschool program focused on Italian language and culture at her Norwich home in 2015.
Having learned English as an adult after coming to the U.S. for graduate school, Fondriest said she dreamed of opening a language school for children, who are able to learn languages more easily than adults.
And by spending time with her daughters, Emilia, 11, and Cosima, 8, she found that they “loved to learn about Italian traditions (and) culture,” she said in a phone interview last week. “They really inspired me.”
As a working mother, Fondriest said she struggled to find a stimulating afterschool program for her daughters. Through her business, La Casetta Rossa, Fondriest said she hopes to be able to maintain her bilingual daughters’ connection to Italy, as well as to provide other children with a chance to study Italian language and culture.
Fondriest integrates activities such as art, music, history and geography, as well as cooking, into the two-hour afterschool program, which costs $40 per day, though discounts are available for registering for more than one day per week and for siblings.
Cooking stands out as a favorite for participants, she said.
“Among all activities, that’s what makes children more excited,” Fondriest said. “I’m proud to share the Italian food characterized by simplicity and fresh ingredients. That’s why it’s easy for the children to embrace and start doing.”
Fondriest learned to cook from her mother, grandmother and mother-in-law — her husband is also from Italy. Cooking meals with few processed ingredients is an active and healthy way to engage children in the language, she said.
Last week, the children made minestrone soup on Monday and tagliatelle pasta — which is shaped like long, flat ribbons — on Tuesday. Each day, they went home with the recipe and some food. The class taught them to prepare a three-course meal — appetizer, main course and dessert.
After the children wrapped the balls of dough in plastic wrap, labeled them with their names and set them aside to rest, some of them moved to a soft rug on the floor to play cards, or to the couch to read books in the bright, window-lit room.
As some of the other children played and giggled, Brooke Hindinger, 10, of Perkinsville, wiped off the table to prepare for apple slicing, the next step of the strudel-making process.
Brooke started making pancakes at the age of 3. She said she likes preparing meals and experimenting with different foods and flavors because “I find a lot of inspiration in it.”
She was glad to participate in Fondriest’s camp, at least in part for the opportunity to learn to make Italian dishes from an Italian.
“I loved making pasta and the soup,” she said. “It was really good.”
In addition to the vacation cooking classes and the after-school program for children, Fondriest has recently begun offering cooking classes and Italian lessons for adults. More information about La Casetta Rossa can be found online at casetta-rossa.com or by calling 802-526-2643.
Strudel di Mele
“Strudel” is a German word that means “whirlpool.” It refers to the technique and effect of rolling up a generous apple filling in a paper thin, no-sugar dough. Fondriest learned to bake this dessert from her mother, who made it almost every evening for breakfast the next day.
Ingredients
1 rounded cup flour
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup water
1 egg
10 to 12 apples
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 to 3 graham crackers
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Steps
In a bowl, combine the flour with a pinch of salt. Incorporate the egg and blend, using a fork to beat the egg. Add the olive oil and the water. Then, knead gently for at least 10 minutes to create a smooth, uniform ball of dough. Wrap in plastic and let rest for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Peel the apples, discard the cores and slice. Put them in a big bowl and add the sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.
On a lightly-floured surface, working carefully and with the help of a rolling pin, stretch the dough from the center out. Roll it out as thin as you can. The challenge is to roll out an even, thin dough without any holes. Legend has it that the Austrian emperor’s perfectionist cook decreed that it should be possible to read a love letter through it, Fondriest said.
Crumble a couple of graham crackers and sprinkle them on the dough. Then, spread the apple mixture evenly on top. Gently lift the bottom edge of the dough to cover the filling and fold the side edges over. Carefully roll the stack away from you until the filling is completely sealed in and the seam is on the bottom.
Place a large sheet of parchment paper on a baking pan and transfer the strudel, gently. Top with little pieces of butter. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The strudel is ready when it is golden. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. The strudel can be served while still warm, with a scoop of vanilla gelato on the side, or after it has cooled.
Tips:
1. Typically, Golden Delicious apples are used for this recipe, but any apple variety will work.
2. You may add 1 cup of raisins to the filling for a richer dessert. In this case, soak the raisins in water for about 15 minutes before adding them. A ½ cup of pine nuts in the filling will give the strudel a delicate crunch.
3. If your strudel does not fit perfectly in the pan, that’s okay — just curve it to fit.
4. For a shinier look, after 15 minutes of baking, remove the strudel from the oven and brush the top with milk or apple sauce. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
