The classes listed below are the same as those listed in the interactive calendar above. Simply click on the following links for details and menus for each class.

Essential Technique

• Comfort Food January 5
• Fresh Pasta Workshop#1 January 10 at 12 pm
• Italian Home Cooking January 23
• Mountain Flavors February 2
• Rustic Favorites February 6
• Essentials of Italian Cooking February 7 at 12 pm
• Fireplace Dinner February 9
• Italian for Beginners February 21 at 12 pm
• Cooking with Wine February 27
• Italian Home Cooking March 6
• Italian Baking Workshop March 7 at 12 pm
• Cheeselover's Festival March 13
• Spring Celebration March 20
• Trattoria Cooking March 30
• Fresh Pasta Workshop#2 April 4 at 12PM
• A Country Feast April 6
• Rustic Favorites April 20
• Fresh Pasta Workshop #3 May 2 at 12PM
• Cooking with Fresh Herbs May 4
• Chili Lovers' Festival May 29

Daytime Classes

• Fresh Pasta Workshop January 10 at 12 pm
• Essentials of Italian Cooking February 7 at 12 pm
• Italian for Beginners February 21 at 12 pm
• Italian Baking Workshop March 7 at 12 pm
• Fresh Pasta Workshop#2 April 4 at 12PM
• Fresh Pasta Workshop #3 May 2 at 12PM

Seafood & Healthy Cooking

• Succulent Seafood January 16
• Valentine's Seafood Feast February 14
• Seafood Lover's Feast March 16
• Cooking with Fresh Herbs May 4
• Chili Lovers' Festival May 29

Regional Cuisine

• Fresh Pasta Workshop January 10 at 12 pm
• Winter in Northern Italy January 12
• Evening in Tuscany January 19
• Taste of Puglia January 30
• Taste of Venice February 16
• Winter in Milan January 10 & February 20
• Southern Italian Feast February 23
• Evening in Piedmont March 2
• Southern Italian Favorites March 23
• Taste of Parma March 27
• Flavors of Umbria April 3
• Southern Italian Feast April 13
• Evening in Emilia-Romagna April 17
• Evening in Naples April 24
• Spring in Tuscany April 27
• Savoring Sardinia May 1
• Portofino Favorites May 8
• Taste of Northern Italy May 11
• Tempting Tuscany May 15
• Taste of Puglia May 18

Wine Tasting Classes

• Wine Tasting: Sangiovese, Tuscany & Beyond January 26
• Wine Tasting March 9

• Warm Polenta & Mozzarella "Panini" over Baby Arugula in Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Filet Mignon with Parsley-Garlic Salsa Verde
• Roasted Sweet Pepper Medley with Basil, Tomatoes, & Ricotta Salata
• Flaky Apple & Date Strudel

Winter is here, and with it comes the urge to nestle indoors, by the warmth of the stove, savoring simple, satisfying food. This menu brings all the elements of comfort cooking to the table: rich, luxurious cheese; crispy polenta; rosy roasted beef; and a decadent dessert that pays homage to winter fruit. The techniques we'll learn in this class are many, and will serve you well for years: roasting beef to perfection; making Italy's famed salsa verde, a garlicky sauce that is just as good with fish, meat, and poultry; working with phyllo dough to create a multi-layered, flaky strudel; and transforming a humble batch of polenta into a stunning appetizer. So if you're hoping for a little comfort in the kitchen this winter-and a delicious dinner in good company-join us for this brand new class.

$95 pp | Comfort Food | Monday January 5, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Ricotta Gnocchi with Delicate Beef & Red Wine Ragu (Tuscany)
• Butternut Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter (Emilia-Romagna)
• Cavatelli with Broccoli Raab & Sausage (Puglia)
• Baby Greens in Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Tuscan Almond & Anise Biscotti with Espresso

If you love fresh pasta, don't miss this one time-only hands-on cooking class. This is your chance to learn to make three different (and very delicious) regional Italian pastas: light Ricotta gnocchi from Tuscany, rolled out by hand and sauced with a delicate beef ragu laced with red wine and fresh herbs; plump ravioli stuffed with roasted butternut squash (plus a secret ingredient that makes this first course absolutely unforgettable!) drizzled with sage-infused butter and showered with freshly grated Parmigiano, a specialty of Emilia-Romagna; and rustic cavatelli from southern Italy, tossed with garlicky broccoli raab and spicy sausage. You'll not only learn to make, roll out, and shape the dough for these three very different pastas, you'll participate in preparing the sauce for each so you can recreate these three delectable first courses at home for family and friends. After the cooking is done, we'll sit for a pasta-lover's feast, accompanied by three fabulous wines and a refreshing green salad to cleanse the palate. And since no meal is really complete without dessert, we'll indulge in Tuscany's famed almond biscotti and some freshly brewed espresso. If you're on the waiting list for this class, why not sign up for our FRESH PASTA WORKSHOP#2 on April 4 at 12 pm? Reserve here before this new class also sells out!

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$95 pp | Fresh Pasta Workshop#1 | Saturday January 10, 2009 at 12PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Sausage & Fennel Risotto
• Drunken Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine & Pancetta
• Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Gratin
• Vanilla-Roasted Pears with Marsala, Walnut, & Mascarpone Mousse

I was born in Milan, and my parents still live about an hour away from this bustling northern Italian city... so I often make my way over there, and whenever I do, I try to discover a new restaurant and taste the local cuisine. A savory interplay of butter, cow's milk cheeses, rice, polenta, fresh pasta, veal, beef, and pork, and humble vegetables and beans, Milanese cooking is robust, perfumed, and just right for a winter feast. This new class highlights a few of my favorite Milanese-style dishes. We'll start with a hearty sausage and fennel risotto, best made with the short-grained rice variety known as Carnaroli (not the more common Arborio); we'll follow that with tender, falling-off-the-bone short ribs in a rich red wine and Pancetta sauce, and a lovely saffron-hued butternut squash gratin with Gorgonzola and cream. We'll finish our Milanese feast with a sumptuous dessert that calls for layering wedges of sweet roasted pears with Marsala, crushed walnuts, and a creamy Mascarpone and honey mousse, a spectacular ending to our night in Milan.

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$95 pp | Winter in Milan | Saturday January 10, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Mushroom & Goat Cheese Ravioli in Sage Butter
• Veal Scaloppine in Balsamic-Basil Glaze
• Ricotta- and Pancetta-Stuffed Cabbage Bundles
• Brown Sugar Cake with Caramel-Pecan Topping

I love fresh pasta. I love working the mass of flour and eggs into a smooth, supple mass that I can roll out into gossamer-thin sheets; I love stuffing pasta, cutting it into plump little ravioli, laying it out on a flour-dusted tray, ready to be boiled and napped with a sauce of my own making. If you love fresh pasta-or are intimidated at the thought of making your own-don't miss this new class, which features my secret recipe for wild mushroom and goat cheese ravioli and three other northern Italian recipes for winter feasting. After we've stuffed our ravioli, we'll prepare a succulent main course: veal scaloppine in a heady balsamic vinegar and basil glaze, just perfect accompanied by stuffed Savoy cabbage bundles. And for dessert, we'll bake a moist brown sugar cake topped with an impossibly delicious caramel and pecan sauce… just the thing to chase the winter blues away.

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$95 pp | Winter in Northern Italy | Monday January 12, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Towering Seafood Salad in Salsa Verde
• Roasted Red Snapper with Olives, Tomatoes, & Capers
• Lemon, Asparagus, & Chive Risotto
• Intense Chocolate Fudge Cake

The inspiration for this new class comes from all parts of Italy-in fact, it is my homage to Italy's best coastal cuisine, my way of inviting you to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea for a taste of its most memorable specialties. Every region of Italy with access to the sea makes some sort of seafood salad: some with shrimp, mussels, and clams, others with squid or baby octopus, still others with string beans or slices of lemon. The version from Liguria, in northern Italy, combines the best of land and sea: Slices of perfectly steamed baby potatoes, beans, and beets with tender shrimp in a vibrant parsley and pine nut salsa. The main course: a bold southern Italian-inspired snapper (dentice in Italian) roasted with grape tomatoes, black olives, capers, garlic, plenty of herbs… and a splash of white wine for good measure. A soothing side of lemon-scented risotto with asparagus and chives is the ideal complement to our colorful red snapper. And for dessert, something rich and unabashedly chocolaty is in order: the most intense chocolate fudge cake, moist, dense, and made with the finest bittersweet chocolate around.

$95 pp | Succulent Seafood | Friday January 16, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Chianti & Gorgonzola Risotto with Rosemary
• Smoked Pork Chops in Vin Santo-Apple Glaze
• Savory Wild Mushroom "Souffle'"
• Pine Nut & Chocolate Crostata

Tuscany: gentle green hills; solemn cypress trees dotting the skyline; vineyards in their geometric perfection; silver-leafed olive groves as far as the eye can see… If you haven't had a chance to visit Tuscany this year, join me in this class inspired by the Tuscan countryside. We'll begin the evening's menu with a simply sumptuous risotto laced with fruity Chianti wine and nutty Gorgonzola cheese; a hint of rosemary lends fragrance to this rich risotto. Next, we'll slow-cook smoked pork chops with a bold sauce that features apples, fresh herbs, shallots, and Vin Santo (you may have enjoyed Vin Santo, an amazing dessert wine, in the company of crunchy almond biscotti, but it is a wonderful addition to savory sauces such as the one we'll be making for our pork chops, and it will elevate this delectable main course to new heights of luxury). A woodsy wild mushroom and Parmigiano souffle is the perfect complement to our pork chops, and a pine nut-topped chocolate tart (crostata in Italian) is a fitting close to an elegant Tuscan dinner.

$95 pp | Evening in Tuscany | Monday January 19, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Crispy Shrimp & Asparagus Triangles over Baby Greens
• Herb-Rubbed Roasted Rack of Lamb
• Celery Root & Potato Gratin
• Mocha Tart in Dark Chocolate Crust

Delicious hardly describes the menu for this class devoted to the pleasures of the Italian table. From an elegant seafood appetizer to a stunning main course and decadent dessert, this menu has it all: flavor, presentation, and timeless appeal. We'll start by learning to work with phyllo dough-not difficult once you've mastered a few basic techniques-and stuff our crispy phyllo triangles with a bold mix of shrimp and asparagus. Next, we'll rub a rack of baby lamb with a heady herb marinade and roast it to rosy perfection; carved into tender chops, the lamb is delectable paired with a creamy celery root and potato gratin. (Celery root tastes a bit like celery, but tamer, and lends a delightful crunch to baked dishes). And for dessert, we'll prepare a buttery chocolate shortcrust dough and top it with the richest espresso-chocolate filling ever… a true chocoholic's dream tart!

$95 pp | Italian Home Cooking | Friday January 23, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Savory Cheesecake in Cornmeal Crust with Caramelized Onions over Baby Arugula
• Braised Beef Short Ribs with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce
• Fennel Gratin with Parmigiano
• Roasted Garlic Risotto
• Fig, Nut, & Brown Sugar Squares

This new wine tasting and cooking class will bring us to the famed Italian region of Tuscany and beyond, for a taste of its most succulent winter dishes and for a surprising look at Sangiovese, the prolific grape that is the basis for Chianti and many other top-rated Italian wines. We'll begin with a brief hands-on cooking class during which you'll learn to prepare five fabulous Italian dishes. We'll bake miniature goat cheese and caramelized onion tartlets, braise beef short ribs with herbs and mushrooms until the meat literally falls off the bone, roast wedges of fennel under a cloak of grated Parmigiano, stir up a pot of creamy, luscious garlic-kissed risotto, and bake the most sinful fig- and nut-stuffed butter pastry. After our cooking class, you'll sit down to enjoy your dinner paired with a tasting of 8 or more Sangiovese-based wines, each of which will be presented by our Wine Director Costas Mouzouras. If Sangiovese has always meant Chianti to you, you're in for a tasty surprise!

Course price includes...

• hands-on cooking lesson
• four-course dinner
• 8 wines presented by RUSTICO's Wine Director Costas Mouzouras
• a free RUSTICO COOKING apron

$150 pp | Wine Tasting: Sangiovese, Tuscany & Beyond | Monday January 26, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Handmade Cavatelli Pasta With Fresh Ricotta, Grape Tomatoes, & Basil
• Herb, Caper, & Garlic Lamb Scaloppine
• Sautéed Broccoli Raab
• Nonna's Buttery Jam-Filled Tart

Whenever I return from a trip to Italy, I come back with hundreds of new recipes I want to try: delicious dishes sampled as we made our way across the country, meeting amazing cooks and savoring the local fare. This menu features four such dishes, all of them delicious, and all of them from the southern region of Puglia. We'll begin this culinary journey to Puglia with a homemade pasta called cavatelli: similar to gnocchi, cavatelli is made with semolina flour and hot water, and it is the perfect foil for chunky sauces. We'll sauce our homemade cavatelli with creamy cow's milk Ricotta (a staple in Puglia), plump grape tomatoes, and fragrant basil; why not bring a refreshing taste of summer to our winter table? Lamb is Puglia's favorite meat; the glorious trio of garlic, capers, and herbs flavors tender lamb scaloppine, making them the perfect partner for chili-kissed broccoli raab. As a sweet ending to our evening in Puglia, we'll bake a jam-filled tart in the tradition of Puglia's grandmothers: buttery pastry, sweet filling, and absolute deliciousness.

$95 pp | Taste of Puglia | Friday January 30, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Homemade Tagliatelle with Savoy Cabbage, Crispy Pancetta, & Fontina Cheese
• Slow-Cooked Chicken with Wild Mushrooms, White Wine, & Rosemary
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Caraway Seeds & Garlic
• Old-Fashioned Polenta with Caramelized Onions & Sage
• Walnut & Chocolate Pie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Here's a brand new menu from Italy's northern Friuli region: laced with rich cheeses, savory pork, and alpine herbs, it will offer you a glimpse into the hallowed kitchens of one of Italy's least traveled areas. Savoy cabbage, a staple in northern Italy, finds its way onto Friuli's tables in many guises; tonight, we'll toss it with delicate homemade tagliatelle, golden Pancetta, and nutty cheese to create a stunning and delectable first course. We'll slow-cook boneless chicken morsels with white wine, rosemary, and wild mushrooms, and serve our succulent braised chicken over a mountain of soft, onion-laced polenta with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts (adding a flourish of caraway seeds to the sprouts lends them an incredible aroma). Dessert is an old-time trattoria stand-by: Buttery pasta frolla (Italian shortcrust, made with plenty of sweet butter, eggs, and sugar) stuffed with walnuts, chopped chocolate, and a hint of Rum... How delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

$95 pp | Mountain Flavors | Monday February 2, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Parmigiano & Ricotta Tartlets in Pancetta Cups over Baby Greens
• Fennel-, Chili-, and Rosemary-Rubbed Filet Mignon in Red Wine Glaze
• Roasted Garlic Potato Fans
• Rum-Raisin Semifreddo

In Italy, food is the source of endless pleasure, of passionate conversation and great debate. People love to sit around the dinner table and talk about past meals, future meals, celebratory meals, meals shared with loved ones. There is no greater joy for Italians than to spend hours discussing and dissecting food: the art of cooking is very much alive in Italy, and everyday eating remains a celebration of the pleasures of the table. But most everyday Italian cooking is rustic, and family favorites tend to be simple dishes that deliver big flavor without much fuss. That's the sort of cooking we'll be celebrating in this new class: rustic cooking from all corners of Italy. We'll begin with crispy little tartlets baked not in the usual crust, but in Pancetta... a fun way to start the meal, and so satisfying served atop baby greens in a light lemon dressing. I'll share my secret recipe for the most tender roast beef imaginable: it's so good, you'll be making it time and again, slicing leftovers for panini, inviting friends over just to revel in it. Garlicky potatoes are magic next to filet mignon; our potatoes will be roasted whole, scored and stuffed with garlic so inimitable aroma deeply permeates the potatoes' flesh. For dessert, we'll make an Italian specialty called semifreddo: less cold than gelato, it doesn't require an ice cream machine, but tastes much like homemade gelato. Our semifreddo will feature plenty of rum-soaked raisins to ensure you'll keep coming back for more!

$95 pp | Rustic Favorites | Friday February 6, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Homemade Cannelloni with Ricotta, Prosciutto, & Mozzarella
• Chicken Cacciatora with Tomatoes, Capers, & Garlic
• Old-Fashioned Polenta with Mascarpone & Chives
• Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti

This class is one of our most popular--reserve quickly, before it sells out! Some of the most well-loved dishes in Italian cuisine are also longtime classics: Ricotta-stuffed cannelloni, chicken cacciatora, creamy, soft polenta, and crunchy nut & chocolate biscotti... In this class devoted to favorites of the Italian kitchen, we'll learn to prepare pasta dough, roll it out thin, wrap it around a delicious cheese stuffing, and bake our cannelloni under a veil of creamy bechamel sauce. As a main course, we'll brown boneless chicken in olive oil, then slow-cook it with herbs and onions in a delicate marinara sauce. We'll cook polenta using a shortcut you won't believe... no more stirring for 45 minutes (no, we're not making instant polenta: it's the real thing), and flavor it with a beguiling combination of creamy Mascarpone and delicate chives. And for dessert, we'll knead a sweet, sugary hazelnut dough and shape it into biscotti; after they're baked, we'll dip our biscotti in melted bittersweet chocolate, a treat with espresso any time of day!

$95 pp | Essentials of Italian Cooking | Saturday February 7, 2009 at 12PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Sundried Tomato & Two Cheese Souffle over Wild Arugula
• Prosciutto-Wrapped Sausages Stuffed With Truffled Cheese
• Layered Beet & Potato Terrine
• Raspberry & Almond Puff Pastry Tarts

Comfort cooking at its best: four satisfying, and very romantic, dishes to enjoy by the fireplace. Learn to prepare a light, fluffy cheese souffle' beguilingly flavored with sundried tomatoes; the tricks to a truly marvelous soufflé are good whisking and perfect timing… and, of course, using only the very best ingredients. Our main course: savory sausages stuffed with a truffled cheese, wrapped in Prosciutto, and baked until the cheese melts and the sausages plump up… what delicious partner for a vibrantly colored potato and beet gratin laced with cheese. Dessert by the fireplace should be a decadent affair-and ours is no exception: a crispy, flaky raspberry tart topped with almond paste and raspberries… . Even if you don't have a fireplace, you're sure to be warmed by this delectable meal, and we suggest you prepare it for someone you love come Valentine's Day.

$95 pp | Fireplace Dinner | Monday February 9, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Crab & Chive Ravioli in Tarragon Butter
• Wine-Poached Shrimp over Spicy Pepper Purée
• Roasted Asparagus with Parmigiano
• Five-Herb Risotto
• Light-as-Air Lemon & Berry Soufflé

SIGN UP EARLY, BEFORE CLASS SELLS OUT! This year, treat your Valentine to a delicious night out... join us for our second Valentine's Cooking Class, featuring five amazingly luxurious (and quite possibly aphrodisiac) recipes. We'll cook with crab, shrimp, chili peppers, fresh herbs, berries, and more, creating a delectable seafood meal that will leave your loved one smiling long after the last bite has been devoured. We'll begin this heavenly meal with a stunning starter: chunks of fresh crab meat wrapped in delicate layers of fresh pasta, served in a tarragon-infused butter sauce. Next, we'll poach shrimp in a fragrant white wine broth and serve it over a subtly spicy pepper sauce, lovely with a side of roasted asparagus and a fragrant five-herb risotto. For dessert, we'll whip up a light berry and lemon soufflé like no other. Note: This class is open to couples, friends, and singles... anyone with an appetite for great food and wine can join. Choose your option: buy one spot, or get the Lovers Package wich comes with attendance for 2 people, with 2 aprons and one copy of the Italian Grill - a combined savings of $15!

Hurry - Class almost sold out!

Options for this class 2 spots + 2 aprons + 1 cookbook $270.00 1 spot $110.00

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Individual Asparagus & Crab Lasagna
• Sea Bream in Prosecco Glaze with Basil & Chives
• Caramelized Lemon & Garlic Brussels Sprouts
• Mini Tiramisu Tartlets

Venice: city of romance, city of mystery, it was once a great commercial and maritime power. Its empire extended across the Mediterranean and beyond, into the Byzantine world, bringing in exotic goods and spices which spawned a flavorful, eastern-influenced cuisine. From the Venetian lagoon come soups and risottos studded with seafood; in the valleys and hills surrounding Venice, myriad specialties feature radicchio (both the round and elongated variety, known as Chioggia and Treviso respectively after their native cities); and all across the Veneto, most meals bring polenta in one form or another: right out of the pot, fried, grilled, layered and baked, even cooked into rustic desserts. Join me for a brand new class on Venetian cuisine and allow yourself to be transported to this magical corner of the world. We'll begin our taste journey with an elegant asparagus and crab lasagna baked in individual molds (and made using a short cut you won't believe!); after all, Venice is famous for its delectable pasta dishes, and its crab are among the best on the Adriatic Sea. Prosecco, one of the Veneto's prized wines, makes a splendid cooking medium for sea bream (orata in Italian), among Italy's most delicate fish varieties. We'll serve our orata with lemon-kissed roasted Brussels sprouts, and finish with a playful twist on Venice's beloved tiramisu: miniature tiramisu-inspired tartlets, bite-size morsels of pure espresso and chocolate delight.

$95 pp | Taste of Venice | Monday February 16, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Sausage & Fennel Risotto
• Drunken Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine & Pancetta
• Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Gratin
• Vanilla-Roasted Pears with Marsala, Walnut, & Mascarpone Mousse

I was born in Milan, and my parents still live about an hour away from this bustling northern Italian city... so I often make my way over there, and whenever I do, I try to discover a new restaurant and taste the local cuisine. A savory interplay of butter, cow's milk cheeses, rice, polenta, fresh pasta, veal, beef, and pork, and humble vegetables and beans, Milanese cooking is robust, perfumed, and just right for a winter feast. This new class highlights a few of my favorite Milanese-style dishes. We'll start with a hearty sausage and fennel risotto, best made with the short-grained rice variety known as Carnaroli (not the more common Arborio); we'll follow that with tender, falling-off-the-bone short ribs in a rich red wine and Pancetta sauce, and a lovely saffron-hued butternut squash gratin with Gorgonzola and cream. We'll finish our Milanese feast with a sumptuous dessert that calls for layering wedges of sweet roasted pears with Marsala, crushed walnuts, and a creamy Mascarpone and honey mousse, a spectacular ending to our night in Milan.

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$95 pp | Winter in Milan | Friday February 20, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Perfect Homemade Pasta with Two-Meat Ragu
• Chicken Scaloppine with Fontina & Prosciutto in Marsala Glaze
• Escarole with Garlic & Chili
• Light-as-Air Tiramisu

This class is going to sell out quickly, so book early to avoid being wait-listed! Although we designed this class with beginner cooks in mind, the techniques we'll be covering are so basic and so important to Italian cooking that anyone who enjoys Italian cuisine is sure to learn something new. We'll start off by making fresh egg pasta; I have devised a special formula that is foolproof and yields consistently delicious results, no matter what shape of pasta you're craving... it's all about which flour you use and how many eggs you add to your dough. We'll cook a perfect ragu sauce for our pasta, and there's a key to success here too, one that many advanced home cooks often skip, with disappointing results. As a main course, we'll brown chicken scaloppine, top them with cheese and Prosciutto, and finish them in the oven as we create a flavorful pan sauce with Marsala wine. Escarole with garlic and chili makes a refreshing accompaniment to the chicken. And for dessert, I'll share my recipe for tiramisu with you... it's so good, you'll never be able to eat the store-bought stuff again.

$95 pp | Italian for Beginners | Saturday February 21, 2009 at 12PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Homemade Focaccia with Olive Oil & Coarse Sea Salt
• Crepes With Broccoli Raab, Sausage, & Three Cheeses
• Baby Calamari Stuffed with Bread Crumbs & Garlic in Light Tomato Sauce
• String Beans with Basil and Pine Nut Pesto
• Strawberry & Ricotta Tart

Southern Italy is decidedly Mediterranean in climate, except in the high mountains of Calabria and Basilicata. Sun-kissed vegetables and fruits form the basis of a gutsy cuisine, and pasta reigns supreme. Greek settlers and Arab invaders left an unmistakable imprint on the foodways of these regions, and staple dishes combine sweet and savory flavors in often-surprising ways. This brand new menu features five delicious southern Italian favorites. We'll begin by kneading dough for a classic focaccia, topping it only with the best quality fruity extra-virgin olive oil and coarse sea salt before baking to golden perfection (once you've mastered the dough for this basic focaccia, you'll be able to bake a variety of focaccias in the comfort of your very own kitchen, without any special ingredients or equipment). Next, we'll prepare an heirloom primo piatto: thin, delicate crepes wrapped around sautéed broccoli raab and sausage, dusted with cheese, and baked until bubbling. Our main course pays homage to the sea: baby calamari stuffed with a garlicky bread crumb and cheese mixture, slow-cooked in a subtle tomato sauce until tender. Green beans tossed with a traditional pesto made with basil, garlic, and pine nuts make a splendidly flavorful side dish, and a colorful berry and Ricotta tart completes our feast in southern Italy.

$95 pp | Southern Italian Feast | Monday February 23, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Handmade Cavatelli Pasta with Seafood & Prosecco Sauce
• Chicken Scaloppine in Marsala Glaze
• Risotto with Caramelized Radicchio & Chianti
• Mini Apple Cakes in Moscato Wine Syrup

Italians take wine very seriously. And just as they eat regionally, Italians drink regionally. Go to Tuscany, and you'll find locals drinking Chianti, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Brunello di Montalcino, and other Tuscan wines with their meals. Head to Abruzzo, and you'll find Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, or Trebbiano d'Abruzzo on the table. Italy is the largest producer of wine in the world, and it exports much of its wine to North America. Every Italian region produces good wine (some more than others, of course). And every Italian region cooks with wine-using it in every dish from antipasti to desserts to lend flavor and body, to add depth and complexity, and to elevate the simple to the sublime. Join me for a brand new class on cooking with wine Italian-style. We'll start our wine-centric menu with homemade cavatelli pasta in a chunky seafood and Prosecco wine sauce. Marsala (the dry variety) becomes a velvety sauce for tender chicken scaloppine, and a dry Chianti lends color and fruitiness to a radicchio-laced risotto. And for dessert, we'll bake delectable little cakes and bathe them in an aromatic Moscato wine sauce... of course, our menu will be paired with three fabulous wines, so get ready for a night of amazing food, wine, and fun!

$110 pp | Cooking with Wine | Friday February 27, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Butternut Squash Gnocchi in Rosemary-Garlic Butter
• Braised Chicken with Cabbage & Juniper Berries
• Baked Potatoes with Fontina, Pancetta & Peas
• Warm Marsala Zabaione over Poached Winter Fruit

From the peaks of snowcapped mountains to the shores of serene lakes, Piedmont encompasses a diverse and prolific landscape. First-class wines like Barolo, Barbaresco, and Barbera hail from hillside vineyards, noble partners to a cuisine that is unabashedly rich and deliciously refined. Fresh pastas are stuffed with delicately spiced forcemeats and showered with fragrant white truffles, rice is paired with everything from trout to Castelmagno cheese, prized cuts of meat are boiled or roasted to tender perfection and served with great pomp during the cold winter months, and the chocolate confections are the best in the country. Piedmont is also a region I have known intimately since I was two years old, when my parents first built their home overlooking the Lago Maggiore one hour north of Milan, where I was born. Here's a class that highlights the cuisine of Piedmont in all its delicious glory. We'll begin by making light butternut squash gnocchi-in Piedmont, they use a brilliant orange variety of pumpkin, but butternut squash makes a fine substitute. Rosemary and garlic are two of Piedmont's signature flavorings, just lovely infused into butter as a sauce for the gnocchi. Tender chicken morsels braised with strips of Savoy cabbage and fragrant juniper berries make a splendid winter main course, especially with a warming side of potatoes baked with Fontina cheese and Pancetta. As a fitting finale to our Piedmont experience, we'll whip eggs and sweet Marsala into a frothy, fluffy Zabaione, and spoon it atop wine-poached fruit…

$95 pp | Evening in Piedmont | Monday March 2, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Escarole, Sausage, & Farro Soup
• Beef Scaloppine with Mozzarella & Oregano Pizzaiola-Style
• Baby Peas with Prosciutto & Onions
• Apple & Pine Nut Cake

Home cooking is often the best cooking of all: tasty, satisfying, never pretentious, it delivers great flavor and a comforting sense of being taken care of. In Italy, home cooking varies from region to region, town to town, cook to cook. This class features four typical home-cooked dishes from all over Italy. We'll start with a hearty soup rich with peppery escarole, chunks of sweet pork sausage, toothsome farro (an ancient strain of wheat with amazing flavor), and (of course) homemade chicken broth. (As a bonus, we'll put up a pot of chicken broth together, so you can recreate the dish from start to finish at home... and believe me, once you see how easy and quick it is to make good homemade broth, you'll never resort to the canned stuff again.) Another home favorite is beef cooked pizzaiola-style… My mother made it often when I was a child, preparing a fragrant tomato sauce and a rich, cheesy Mozzarella topping to cover the tender, browned beef scaloppine. We'll serve our pizzaiola-style beef with baby peas with Prosciutto and onions, a simple side dish that brings the much-anticipated flavors of spring to any winter table. And for dessert, we'll bake a light, buttery apple-topped cake in the tradition of Italian grandmothers: a little lemon zest, a hint of vanilla, and a scattering of pine nuts turn this comforting cake into a memorable dessert.

$95 pp | Italian Home Cooking | Friday March 6, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Tuscan Focaccia with Rosemary & Sea Salt
• Sfinciuni (Sicilian Tomato, Olive, & Caper Pizza)
• Grissini (Piedmontese Crispy Sesame Breadsticks)
• Ligurian-Style Thin Crust Pizza with Ricotta, Cherry Tomatoes, & Basil
• Southern Italian Pizza Rustica with Prosciutto, Mozzarella, & Salame
• Mixed Greens in Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Espresso & Biscotti

I've been teaching Italian cooking for years, and the thing that seems to scare people off more than anything is making bread. Maybe it's the fear that, left to its own devices, yeast will take over the kitchen--just think of dough ballooning out of the oven in that episode of "I Love Lucy". But I've found that once people get their hands into the dough and get familiar with how yeast works, the fear disappears. All it takes is understanding a few rules, getting comfortable with basic techniques such as kneading and shaping the dough, and a reliable recipe. Whether you're making bread, focaccia, pizza, or any other yeast-risen dough, the principles are the same. It's all about temperature, ingredients, and technique. In this brand new, one time-only daytime hands-on class, we'll learn to make a basic yeasted dough and transform it into 5 exceptionally tasty Italian specialties: a Tuscan olive oil and rosemary focaccia; Sicily's famous tomato-topped sfinciuni; crispy sesame bread sticks from Piedmont; a Ligurian-style thin crust pizza topped with fresh tomatoes, Ricotta, and slivered basil; and a stuffed pizza rustica from southern Italy filled with Mozzarella, hard-boiled eggs, salame, and Prosciutto, a favorite on Easter tables. We'll enjoy our pizzas and focaccias with a refreshing green salad and finish off the meal with crunchy biscotti dipped in espresso.

$95 pp | Italian Baking Workshop | Saturday March 7, 2009 at 12PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Shrimp & Asparagus Lasagna over Warm Artichokes
• Sicilian-Style Branzino with Pine Nuts, Raisins, & Olives
• Lemon, Basil, & Chive Risotto
• Roasted Garlic String Beans
• Light-as-Air Lemon Cakes with Fresh Berry Medley

This new wine tasting and cooking class will take you on a taste journey of Italy's greatest wine-making regions. We'll begin with a brief hands-on cooking class during which you'll learn to prepare five fabulous springtime Italian dishes. We'll make individual shrimp and asparagus lasagne, a delightful appetizer served over warm garlicky artichokes; we'll top delicate filets of branzino (Mediterranean sea bass) with a heady Sicilian sauce featuring pine nuts, raisins, and olives, and serve this succulent main course with a fragrant herb-kissed risotto and roasted string beans. And for dessert, we'll bake gloriously rich, moist mini cakes generously perfumed with lemon and served with a colorful fresh berry medley. After our cooking class, you’ll sit down to enjoy your dinner paired with a tasting of 8 or more wines, each of which will be presented by our Wine Director Costas Mouzouras.

Course price includes...

• hands-on cooking lesson
• four-course dinner
• 8 or more wines presented by RUSTICO's Wine Director Costas Mouzouras
• a free RUSTICO COOKING embroidered apron

$150 pp | Wine Tasting | Monday March 9 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Roasted Pear, Toasted Walnut, & Young Goat Cheese over Baby Arugula
• Individual Four-Cheese Lasagna
• Veal Scaloppine with Parmigiano and Wild Mushroom Medley
• Cheese Course Paired with Honeys & Preserves
• Individual Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake in Brown Sugar Crust

I have to admit to selfish motives when I planned this class: I really love cheese. In fact, there's no food I enjoy more than cheese... so this cooking class just HAD to happen. You'll cook with a half-dozen fantastic Italian cheeses, and our dinner will highlight Italian cheeses in every course, from antipasto to dessert. We'll even enjoy a tasting of fabulous (and little-known) Italian cheeses paired with preserves and honeys after the main course is served, before we indulge in dessert. We'll start by preparing a light, boldly flavored salad of roasted pears, arugula, and goat cheese, then bake an amazing cheese lasagna. We'll sear thin slices of veal in hot butter, dust them with Parmigiano, and top them with an intense wild mushroom sauté. And we'll whip up the most decadent chocolate cheesecake imaginable, featuring creamy Mascarpone cheese and deep, dark, bittersweet chocolate swirled inside a buttery brown sugar and almond crust…

$110 pp | Cheeselover's Festival | Friday March 13, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Crostini with Classic Tuna Mousse
• Handmade Cavatelli with Seafood Ragù
• Skate in Saffron Broth over Baby Spinach & Fingerling Potatoes
• Berry & Mascarpone Tartlets

The Italian seaside: lush visions of blue waters, gentle breezes, golden sun… just what we need in the winter to warm our soul and take a break from everyday life. Take a virtual journey to the Italian seaside with me in this new class devoted to the pleasures of Italian seafood cooking. We'll start off with an appetizer you'll find your self making time and again: it's that good, and that simple to put together… a tuna mousse spiked with capers and a shot of hot sauce, sprinkled with fresh herbs and dolloped atop crispy grilled bread, it pairs beautifully with a glass of sparkling wine. Next, we'll roll up our sleeves and knead a golden semolina dough for homemade cavatelli pasta; we'll sauce our cavatelli with a chunky seafood sauce featuring shrimp, mussels, cockles, and more-a hint of tomato, a touch of garlic, and a splash of white wine round out the briny seafood flavors. Skate, an understated (and often underused) fish has a delectable silky texture and sweet taste-if you've never tried it, this is your chance to cook it in an elegant saffron-hued broth and savor it atop baby spinach and potatoes; this visually striking dish delivers big flavor in every bite. And to finish off our seafood feast in style, we'll bake colorful berry-topped tarts whose lemon-scented creamy centers hide a crisp, flaky pastry crust.

$95 pp | Seafood Lover's Feast | Monday March 16, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Risotto with Shrimp, Saffron, & Asparagus
• Veal Scaloppine with Artichokes, Pine Nuts, & Olives
• Smashed Peas & Baby Potatoes with Mint
• Light-as-Air Vanilla Cake with Caramel Glaze

Spring: the magical moment when winter's dark days give way to the bright new light of the season, a time to revel in the pleasures of nature and taste all that the garden offers. This new class celebrates spring in all its bounty: each of the four dishes in this menu is a veritable ode to spring and its delectable, edible glory. We'll cook up a rich, creamy risotto studded with tender shrimp, flavored with golden saffron and the season's perfect asparagus, a true tatse of spring. We'll brown tender scaloppine of veal with artichokes, pine nuts, and olives, a Ligurian specialty that truly makes the most of a few splendid ingredients. We'll sauté baby potatoes and sweet peas with mint, gently crushing them to release their vegetal goodness before devouring them alongside the veal. And we'll bake an ethereally light vanilla cake and top it with the most sinful caramel glaze ever… what a way to usher in the pleasures of spring!

$95 pp | Spring Celebration | Friday March 20, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Bocconcini, Sundried Tomato, & Crispy Prosciutto Bruschetta
• Seafood al Cartoccio with Lemon Zest & Chili
• Marinated Zucchini "Carpaccio" in Mint Vinaigrette
• Layered Limoncello Sabayon Cake

Here's a menu that will transport you to the most beautiful, sun-drenched corners of southern Italy on first bite. The ingredients for our southern Italian feast: creamy Mozzarella, plump sundried tomatoes, fruity olive oil, fragrant mint, the freshest seafood, aromatic lemons, and Limoncello liqueur… Our appetizer tonight combines the savory intensity of Prosciutto with the sweetness of fresh Mozzarella and sundried tomatoes atop crusty bruschetta. (This is such a great combination that you'll find yourself making it for a simple lunch or dinner time and again, couple with nothing more than baby greens in a light lemon dressing.) Our main course: a succulent combination of the freshest seafood (think mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops) tossed with garlic, oregano, lemon zest, and white wine in parchment paper packages, roasted to tender perfection, served with a refreshing take on carpaccio: paper-thin slices of raw zucchini macerated with garlic and mint in a bracing lemon vinaigrette-everyone who tries this zucchini can't get over how delicious it is. And for a sweet finale, we'll bake my famous, and famously light, sponge cake, split it in half, and layer it with a creamy Limoncello-spiked sabayon. You'll not only learn to bake perfectly light sponge cake-you'll also learn to whip up the most amazing sabayon (zabaione in Italian). This cake is quite elegant, a real showstopper… and a sweet taste of southern Italy.

$95 pp | Southern Italian Favorites | Monday March 23, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Herbed Ricotta Gnocchi with Prosciutto Ribbons & Peas
• Filet Mignon with Balsamic Vinegar-Herb Glaze
• Roasted Asparagus with Pine Nuts & Pancetta
• Amaretto Crème Caramel

Ask Italians where the best food in Italy is found, and when they don't name their own city, they will likely say Parma. With its rosy Prosciutto, nutty Parmigiano cheese, and heavenly fresh pastas, Parma offers an astounding array of savory and sweet dishes that bespeak a golden past and a rich culinary legacy. Some of the tastiest, most honest food imaginable comes from this elegant northern Italian city... and we'll explore it all in a brand new, one time-only cooking class. We'll begin by preparing my signature herbed Ricotta gnocchi-the trick to light, melt-in-the-mouth gnocchi is not adding any eggs to the dough, and using a very delicate hand with the flour. We'll sauce our gnocchi with a subtle combination of peas, Prosciutto ribbons, a splash of cream, and a handful of Parmigiano... after all, this is the cooking of Parma, where Prosciutto and Parmigiano appear in most savory dishes. We'll roast filet mignon to rosy perfection and serve it with a balsamic vinegar-spiked glaze... what an elegant main course served with roasted asparagus topped with toasted pine nuts and golden cubes of Pancetta. And for dessert, we'll whip up a batch of amaretto-scented crème caramel: a comforting, and rather addictive, dessert whose creamy texture and almondy taste are the perfect counterpoint to our rich meal.

$95 pp | Taste of Parma | Friday March 27, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Pizza Rustica with Prosciutto, Artichokes, Tomatoes, & Mozzarella
• Braised Oxtail Roman-Style with Wine & Onions
• Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Upside-Down Apple Cakes with Sweet Marsala Syrup

Trattorias are a great place to taste Italy's most satisfying food: delicious regional dishes made with local ingredients, flavorful and direct and never fussy… Here is a brand new menu that features a few of my all-time favorite trattoria dishes, specialties I savored as I made my way across Italy on cooking tours and holidays over the years. We'll start off with the perfect first course: pizza rustica stuffed with artichokes, olives, Prosciutto, tomatoes, and plenty of cheese (we'll use a combination of Mozzarella and Pecorino for extra complexity); the dough for this pizza rustica is a classic focaccia dough, rolled out thin and brushed with olive oil before baking (if you've never tried your hand at making yeasted focaccia dough, this is your chance). Next, we'll tuck into a steaming plate of braised oxtail in a rich tomato and wine sauce; oxtail is a classic in Roman trattoria, and it is so decadent served over a creamy mound of garlicky mashed potatoes. And for dessert, we'll bake individual upside-down apple cakes bathed in a rich, fragrant Marsala syrup... with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream, these cakes are astoundingly delicious.

$95 pp | Trattoria Cooking | Monday March 30, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Light-as-Air Potato Gnocchi in Sagrantino Wine Sauce
• Beef & Prosciutto Bundles with Garlic & Rosemary
• Roasted Baby Carrots & Fennel with Parmigiano
• Crunchy Anise & Lemon Biscotti

Click in the large triangle in the middle of the image to the right to see a quick video of gnocchis being made...This is one of the amazing dishes you will learn in this fabulous class!

Nicknamed "The Green Heart of Italy," Umbria is nestled next to Tuscany in central Italy. Landlocked, entirely tucked away from the sea, it is a continuous unfolding of dulcet hills and undulating green valleys, gentle mountains and glittering lakes. Sanctuaries dot the roads, hilltop villages reign over the vast countryside, medieval castles and churches beckon behind silvery olive groves. Umbria uses the foods her land offers skillfully and ingeniously, without pretense. The Umbrians will be the first to tell you that theirs is a peasant cuisine, one that remains tied to its pastoral roots, and they keep things simple more out of necessity than out of rigor or philosophy. Olive oil, green and intense, laces almost every dish. Bread is baked without salt, as in Tuscany. And the food is among the best Italy has to offer. In this new class, we'll savor four dishes I tasted on a recent trip to Umbria. To start, a heavenly first course: We'll prepare the lightest potato gnocchi, then sauce them with a delicate red wine and cream reduction; this is a recipe I enjoyed in Montefalco, a jewel of a small town perched over Umbria's serene valleys, known around the world for its intense red wine. Our main course: thin slices of beef, topped with herbs and Prosciutto, rolled into bundles and sautéed in a veil of olive oil with a splash of wine. A simple side of roasted fennel and carrots dusted with Parmigiano rounds out the meal beautifully. And for dessert, I'll share my favorite anise biscotti recipe with you... full of toasted almonds and laced with lemon zest, these biscotti are so addictive that you'll no doubt come back for seconds (then go home and bake more for the weekend!).

$95 pp | Flavors of Umbria | Friday April 3, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Tagliatelle with Basil Pesto & String Beans
• Ricotta & Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli in Light Tomato Sauce
• Mom's Potato Gnocchi in Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
• Mixed Baby Greens in Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Hazelnut Biscotti

If you love fresh pasta, don't miss this one time-only hands-on cooking class. When we posted our Fresh Pasta Workshop#1, it sold out within 5 days! This is your chance to learn to make three different (and very delicious) regional Italian pastas: egg tagliatelle from Liguria in northern Italy, sauced with the most fragrant basil pesto imaginable; cheese-filled ravioli tossed with a delicate tomato sauce, a specialty of Tuscany and neighboring Romagna; and my mom's potato gnocchi, the best I've ever tasted, made according to a secret recipe that yields the lightest results possible, napped in a Gorgonzola cream sauce. You'll not only learn to make, roll out, and shape the dough for these three very different pastas, you'll participate in preparing the sauce for each so you can recreate these three delectable first courses at home for family and friends. After the cooking is done, we'll sit for a pasta-lover's feast, accompanied by three fabulous wines and a refreshing green salad to cleanse the palate. And since no meal is really complete without dessert, we'll indulge in crunchy hazelnut biscotti and some freshly brewed espresso. Don't wait too long to sign up for this class: it's sure to sell out! Even if you signed up for our Fresh Pasta Workshop#1, you'll learn plenty in this class, as the menu is completely different.

$95 pp | Fresh Pasta Workshop#2 | Saturday April 4, 2009 at 12PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Classic Ciabatta Bread
• Tuscan Pappardelle Pasta with Ricotta, Oven-Roasted Tomatoes, & Crispy Pancetta
• Homemade Garlic & Herb Sausage
• Roasted Broccoli with Garlic & Chili
• Chewy Sicilian Almond Paste Cookies

Here's a menu for those who really love to take on new challenges in the kitchen. Whether you want to bake crusty Italian bread, learn the secrets of homemade pasta, try your hand at making sausage, or love Sicily's soft, delicate almond paste cookies, this class is sure to be a revelation. We'll bake a loaf of airy, light ciabatta bread using a recipe I've perfected over the years; this is the sort of bread you might have tasted in Piedmont or Milan, chewy, with large air bubbles, and a distinctive wheaty taste. We'll knead and roll out dough for fresh pappardelle, just delicious with a simple sauce of roasted cherry tomatoes, Ricotta, and crispy Pancetta. Our main course: the easiest homemade pork sausage ever, generously flavored with garlic, herbs, and black pepper... No, you won't need to use sausage casings or a meat grinder for this sausage, so you'll be able to make it in your home kitchen without any special equipment. We'll serve our sausage with roasted broccoli, and bake up a batch of chewy, almond-scented cookies for dessert. Don't miss this Italian feast!

$95 pp | A Country Feast | Monday April 6, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Penne with Roasted Eggplants, Chili, & Ricotta
• Prosciutto-Wrapped Lamb Saltimbocca Stuffed With Mozzarella & Fresh Herbs
• Zucchini Boats with Mint & Two Cheeses
• Limoncello & Berry Mousse

Join me for a brand new hands-on cooking class featuring four flavor-packed dishes from southern Italy. Bold pastas, rustic meats, herb-kissed vegetables, and citrus-scented desserts are among the specialties of southern Italian cooks, the sort of dishes that evoke time and place in one rapt bite. We'll start off by preparing a deceptively simple (but utterly amazing) eggplant sauce for our pasta. Next, we'll stuff tender lamb scaloppine with fresh Mozzarella and herbs, wrap the resulting bundles in Prosciutto, pan-fry them to a glorious golden brown, and finish them with a hint of wine and tomato. Such a richly flavored main course requires a light accompaniment: mint- and cheese-stuffed zucchini "boats" are a classic choice in southern Italy, and they pair splendidly with our lamb. For a sweet ending to our southern Italian dinner, we'll whip up a light, bracing Limoncello zabaione, and spoon it atop liqueur-soaked ladyfingers and fresh berries. This is voluptuous cuisine at its absolute best.

$95 pp | Southern Italian Feast | Monday April 13, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Swiss Chard-&-Cheese-Stuffed Focaccia with Basil-Marinated Tomatoes
• Veal Scaloppine with Prosciutto & Parmigiano
• Potato, Leek, & Pancetta Gratin
• Amaretto & Dark Chocolate Semifreddo in White Chocolate Sauce

Emilia-Romagna is home to two distinct cuisines: the rich, complex cooking of Emilia, and the robust, earthy cooking of Romagna. Our menu tonight features a classic Romagnol focaccia: made with a light, crisp dough, filled with savory Swiss chard and plenty of cheese, it is a lovely antipasto served alongside basil-marinated tomatoes. (The great thing about this focaccia is that, once you've learned to make the dough for it, you'll want to use it for all manner of savory starters: sauteed mushrooms and Fontina are a lovely filling, as are wine-poached artichokes and Ricotta... the possibilities are endless.) Our main course is a favorite in Emilia: thin, delicate veal scaloppine, browned in butter, topped with Prosciutto and Parmigiano and finished in a hot oven. A creamy gratin of sliced potatoes, fragrant leeks, and peppery Pancetta rounds out our menu. And for dessert, we'll indulge in a beautiful chocolate and amaretto semifreddo: lighter (and less cold) than gelato, denser than mousse, this is a dessert that is sure to have you coming back for more.

$95 pp | Evening in Emilia-Romagna | Friday April 17, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Risotto with Basil Pesto
• Braised Chicken Sicilian Style with Olives, Raisins, & Pine Nuts
• Roasted Garlic String Beans
• Warm Pecan & Chocolate Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Rustic cooking is my favorite kind of cooking. I don't go in for ornate presentations and complicated recipes requiring days of preparation. I prefer to cook (and eat) dishes that pay homage to the very best ingredients, like fresh cheese, fragrant herbs, fruity olive oil, seasonal vegetables, and whatever the market has to offer. This cooking class is all about the pleasures of rustic cuisine, and features an all-star line-up of four rustic dishes I crave more often than I can tell you. First up: a luscious plate of risotto, flavored with an intense, basil-kissed pesto and plenty of Parmigiano, a specialty we enjoyed in Liguria. Our main course is Sicilian in spirit: tender chicken cooked to perfection with a scattering of raisins, olives, pine nuts, capers, and onions, quite lovely served with garlicky string beans. For dessert, we'll bake a rich, buttery tart filled with toasted pecans and bittersweet chocolate, absolutely delicious with or without vanilla ice cream.

$95 pp | Rustic Favorites | Monday April 20, 2009 at 6PM

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Wines Served: To Be Announced

• Grilled Eggplant Bundles Stuffed with Ricotta & Mint in Tomato Salsa
• Spaghetti & Meatballs in Light Marinara Sauce
• Seafood with White Wine & Garlic "al Cartoccio"
• Silky Espresso Tiramisu over "Drunken" Ladyfingers

Best known around the world for its pizza, Naples' exuberant cuisine relies on sun-kissed vegetables and herbs, salty capers, dried pasta, and fresh farmhouse cheeses (chief among them water buffalo's Mozzarella). In the nineteenth century, people living in the capital city of Naples were nicknamed Mangia Maccheroni (Maccheroni Eaters); to this day, Neapolitans remain devout pasta eaters, and their pasta is among the best and the most varied in all of Italy. Join me for a taste of Naples right here in Manhattan, a chance to explore the cuisine of this lively southern Italian city without getting on a plane. We'll begin our Neapolitan feast with a timeless classic: eggplant bundles stuffed with fresh, creamy Ricotta and chopped herbs, an elegant starter served with a refreshing tomato salsa. As a primo piatto, we'll prepare tiny meatballs, saute them to perfection, and braise them in a light marinara before tossing them with just-boiled, al dente spaghetti (if you have visions of fist-sized meatballs bathed in a deep, red tomato sauce, think again: these are true Italian meatballs, small and light and not overwhelmed by tomato sauce). Our main course is a fun new way to serve seafood: clams, mussels, and shrimp wrapped in aluminum foil with a drizzle of white wine, a shower of parsley, and a hint of garlic, cooked in a hot oven until tender. And for dessert, we'll prepare a traditional Neapolitan sweet: creamy espresso-laced custard spooned over liqueur-soaked ladyfingers, a perfect ending to our southern Italian feast.

$95 pp | Evening in Naples | Friday April 24, 2009 at 6PM

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