Culinary Instruction Right in Your Home
Small Group Classes
The Art of Pizza, Calzone, and Focaccia
For 2 to 10 Participants
Pizza has a long history. Flatbreads with toppings were consumed by the ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks. (The latter ate a version with herbs and oil, like today’s focaccia.) But the modern birthplace of pizza is southwestern Italy's Campania region, home to the city of Naples. These Neapolitans required inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. Pizza—flatbreads with various toppings, eaten for any meal and sold by street vendors or informal restaurants—met this need. An ocean away, though, immigrants to the United States from Naples were replicating their trusty, crusty pizzas in New York and other American cities, including Trenton, New Haven, Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis. Although no specific date is determined, the history of the calzone goes back as far as the 18th century. Its moon-shaped design is believed to come from a pizza that was folded over and indicates that they weren’t meant to be eaten with utensils. Because of the heavy Italian immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Pizza, Focaccia, and Calzones have become part of the fabric of America.
In this workshop, we’ll learn to make both a thin crust and deep-dish pizza crust, craft sauces, and prepare toppings for pizza as well as its culinary cousin, calzone. We’ll use pizza stones, sheet trays, and even cast-iron skillets. We’ll then spend the rest of the workshop making our own pizzas and calzones and eating them!
What you will learn:
How to make and shape Pizza dough and focaccia
Fermentation, proofing, and dough hydration
Make a quick pizza sauce
How this works:
I will bring all the necessary equipment and food products, including mozzarella cheese and sauce. Also included are four (4) toppings of your choice from the following list:
Crumbled Sausage
Sauteed mushrooms
Caramelized Onions
Roasted Red Peppers
Pepperoni (turkey or regular)
Olives
Prosciutto
Salami
Bacon
A dough and the sauce will be prepared on-site
I will demonstrate how to knead and shape the dough
Each participant will then get a pre-made personal size dough ball to make and shape either a pizza or calzone to top or fill as they wish
If applicable, parents and grandparents should assist small children, which makes for a great interactive experience. I will assist with baking each pizza or calzone.
We then enjoy our pizzas!
The cost is $65/person for the 2-to-3-hour workshop. Include a chef-made lemon olive oil cake, tiramisu, OR chocolate caprese torte for $70/person.
Gnocchi, gnocchi, and gnocchi!
For 2 to 10 Participants
Gnocchi goes way back to Roman times. They were made from semolina dough and mixed with eggs. Roman legions spread the dish throughout the European region where they conquered and it became a peasant delicacy as the gnocchi was inexpensive, easy to prepare, and fill. It didn’t become the potato dumplings we know today until the 16th century when potatoes were introduced to Europe. The more famous potato gnocchi that are known and loved world-wide date back to the sixteenth or, more likely, seventeenth century—well after Spanish explorers brought potatoes from South America and introduced them to Italian kitchens. The word gnocchi are thought to come from “nocca,” which means knuckles. In contemporary Italian, gnocchi mean dumpling – all words that imply the small, tight, rounded shape of gnocchi that we know today.
In this workshop, we’ll learn to make three different types of gnocchi:
Classic potato gnocchi
Cauliflower gnocchi
Quick instant mashed potato gnocchi
We’ll then spend the rest of the workshop making our own gnocchi and then eating them!
What you will learn:
The proper way to prepare potatoes for gnocchi
Using cauliflower as a potato substitute in gnocchi
Using instant mashed potatoes to simulate classic potato gnocchi
How to make dough and shape gnocchi using various boards
How this works:
I will bring ALL the necessary equipment and food products for the hands-on workshop.
We will all mix dough then make and cook our gnocchi.
A pairing sauce will be provided to enjoy with your cooked gnocchi.
If applicable, parents and grandparents should assist small children, which makes for a great interactive experience. I will assist where necessary.
We then enjoy our gnocchi family style!
The cost is $65/person for the 2-to-3-hour workshop. Include a chef-made lemon olive oil cake, tiramisu, OR chocolate caprese torte for $70/person.
Pasta Ripieno - Ravioli and Tortellini
For 2 to 8 Participants
Ravioli is a classic Italian dish that's been around for hundreds of years. With its origins most likely in Italy, this dish quickly spread to the United States and became a staple in many restaurants and homes. Ravioli is a dish consisting of an inside filling enveloped in a thin pasta shell. The pasta is typically square but can come in other shapes, including round and semi-round. Ravioli requires sheets of thinly rolled pasta dough. One must work quickly to ensure the fragile dough doesn’t dry out before proper cooking or baking. The word "ravioli" originates from the Italian word avvolgere, which means “to wrap.” While the ravioli is believed to have originated in Italy, it's not known when this dish was first created. Ravioli, as well as tortellini, fall into the category of pasta ripiena or ‘stuffed pasta’ and goes back as far as the 13th century. Once a preserve of the aristocracy, stuffed pasta in its many forms is enjoyed across many kitchen tables.
In this workshop, we’ll learn how to make:
Ravioli using various molds and cutters
Tortellini and how to fold and shape into the classic “hat”
We’ll also make a ricotta and parmesan filling
We’ll then spend the rest of the workshop making our own ravioli and tortellini, then eating them!
What you will learn:
Make egg-based dough and sheet it
Fill and seal ravioli
Fill, seal, and shape tortellini
How this works:
I will bring ALL the necessary equipment and food products for the hands-on workshop.
We will all mix dough and sheet dough then make and cook our pasta.
A pairing sauce will be provided to enjoy with your cooked ravioli.
If applicable, parents and grandparents should assist small children, which makes for a great interactive experience. I will assist where necessary.
We then enjoy our ravioli and tortellini family style!
The cost is $70/person for the 2-to-3-hour workshop. Include a chef-made lemon olive oil cake, tiramisu, OR chocolate caprese torte for $75/person.
Pasta, Pasta, Pasta!
For 2 to 10 Participants
When you think of Italy, you think of pasta. This delicious dish is synonymous with Italian cuisine, and while it’s loved all over the world, it’s the Italians who have a true love affair with pasta. The long and complex history of pasta in Italy dates back centuries, beyond the Middle Ages. Pasta is made all over Italy in many ways and in many shapes. Let’s dive in and let me show you how to make this Italian staple!
In this workshop, we’ll learn to make the two main types of pasta:
Northern Italian egg-based pasta
Southern Italian semolina-based pasta
We’ll then spend the rest of the workshop making and eating our own pasta!
What you will learn:
How to make and sheet egg-based pasta and cut “pasta lungo,” such things as linguine, fettucine, tagliatelle, and pappardelle
How to make and semolina-based pasta and hand cut and make such shapes as cavatelli, orecchiette, pici, and trofie
How this works:
I will bring ALL the necessary equipment and food products for the hands-on workshop.
We will all mix dough then make and cook our pasta.
A pairing sauce will be provided to enjoy with your cooked pasta.
If applicable, parents and grandparents should assist small children, which makes for a great interactive experience. I will assist where necessary.
We then enjoy our pasta family style!
The cost is $70/person for the 2-to-3-hour workshop. Include a chef-made lemon olive oil cake, tiramisu, OR chocolate caprese torte for $75/person.