Montserrat, the new universal program for first-year students designed to integrate more effectively academic, co-curricular and residential experiences at the College, teamed up with Dining Services to bring first-year students “Cooking with Angelo.”
Angelo Berti, a chef at the College since 1992 who hails from Italy, started the night off with dough and rolling pins. “You’re a painter, you have a canvas, go for it,” was Angelo’s advice to the students.
Students could choose from plain, wheat, garlic and herb, or whole grain dough. Then they added sauce and could choose from toppings such as fresh mozzarella, chicken, sausage, olives, spinach, peppers and mushrooms.
“I love pizza, I love cooking, and I wanted the chance to meet other people,” said participant Cady Koenigs from Old Orchard Beach, Maine.
During the lessons the students learned about more than just pizza, “WWII soldiers used to use garlic as antiseptic for their wounds,” explained Angelo. “Olive oil is like liquid gold, it helps skin tone and my mother used to sunbathe in it.”
Angelo credits his mother for everything he knows about cooking. She owns a villa in Italy. “I was a military brat; I traveled the world living half my life in Europe and half in the U.S.”
After the pizza, Angelo showed the students how to make calzones, stromboli, foccacia and fried dough with ricotta cheese and fresh berries for dessert.
Lenore Montanaro from North Kingstown, R.I., made a pizza piled with lots of cheese and used peppers to form the letters “HC.” “My favorite thing about cooking with Angelo was not only learning to cook Italian food, but being able to interact with other Holy Cross students towards a common goal of making pizza,” explained Montanaro. “I met students who I never would have met otherwise.”
The best part of the whole evening – the students got to try everything! They even were allowed to bring some of the ingredients back to their dorms to make future creations.
“It's important that students develop the interpersonal skills to talk and work easily with people they have never met in a variety of situations,” explained Nancy Andrews, director of the Montserrat program. “These skills are vital in our rapidly changing world.”
Montanaro says she will definitely use what Angelo taught her in the future. “I attempted to carry my finished pizza back to my room. It never made it there. The girls in my dorm ate it before I was back in my room,” exclaimed Montanaro. “Now my friends and I make pizza and other foods in the Hanselman dorm kitchen.”
If you don’t feel like going to Kimball and you want to learn how to cook in your dorm, don’t miss the next “Cooking with Angelo.”
Angelo and the dining services team will be at it again Nov. 6 in Wheeler Hall and Dec. 4 in Mulledy Hall.
To sign up or for more information contact Faye Caouette.
Angelo’s Sweet and Fruity Fried Dough (Serves six)
Ingredients:
1 dough ball
1 ½ cups Canola oil
½ cup flour
1 fresh pineapple or one can of Dole tidbits
½ cup raw cane sugar (brown sugar or regular sugar are fine too)
1 pint fresh strawberries
½ stick of butter
1 ½ cups of ricotta or soft cream cheese
Cooking instructions for dough:
1. Cut dough ball into six portions and cover with cellophane
2. Let portions rest and proof for one hour at room temperature
3. Dip dough in flour and stretch out into circular fashion with fingers
4. Place oil in small pan and heat (to test for readiness, put a small, eraser-sized piece of dough into the oil and when it floats and bubbles, oil is ready)
5. Place dough in pan and cook for one to two minutes, or until bottom is golden brown
6. Turn dough over and repeat process
7. Place dough on plate and spread with ricotta or cream cheese
8. Sprinkle with ½ - 1 tsp. of sugar
Fruit (any fruit combination will do):
1. Clean and core pineapple
2. Cut pineapple into ¼ inch slices
3. Cut strawberries into ¼ inch slices
4. Heat ½ - 1 tsp. of butter in a pan
5. Add ¼ - ½ cup fruit and ½ - 1 tsp. sugar
6. Stir and cook fruit for 30 seconds
7. Place fruit on fried dough
8. Add whipped cream
9. Enjoy every morsel
Related Information:
Photo Gallery: Cooking with Angelo
Play-Dough
Students learn to cook as part of new universal program for first-year students
Read Time
3 Minutes