The Italian Way with Vegetables: Easter Sides

A hands-on cooking class culminating in a family-style dinner served with wine or beer.

Italians love to celebrate seasonal, truly fleeting produce. They have a knack for making simple seem special, and they know how to transform a small basket of vegetables into a feast for a crowd. For Spring, this enduring series of classes features dishes inspired by traditional Easter recipes. From soups to salads and everything in between, join our favorite Italian in the kitchen to learn how to make simple, varied and easy dishes.

MENU

Torta pasqualina genovese—Garden greens and ricotta torte with whole eggs

Carciofi in teglia al limone e maggiorana—Stove top braised artichokes with lemon and marjoram

Insalata di carciofina e grana—Tiny artichokes and grana salad

Pecorino e fave—Fava beans and young pecorino

Cipolle ripiene di agnello al gratin—Lamb filled onions au gratin

Tortino di asparagi e crescenza—Asparagus and fresh tangy cheese

Scafata—Spring vegetables stew

Insalata di taccole, radicette e mandarini cinesi al pistacchio e cerfoglio—Sugar snaps, radishes and kumquats salad with pistachios and chervil

*Mother Nature is unpredictable, so this menu subject is to change due to availability of produce.

**To cook all of these dishes in the allotted time, recipes will be divided amongst small groups of students. Viola will teach the entire class the key techniques to understand these dishes.

Viola Buitoni, a direct descendant of the famed pasta and chocolate family, hails from Perugia, in the heart of Umbria. She came to the US for college, but soon after attending NYU as an economics major, she was drawn back into her genetic passion for food. She ran an Italian catering business and had a shop showcasing the best of Italian food on Madison Avenue in NYC. After moving to San Francisco in 2004 to start a family, Viola can now be found giving lectures on Italian food traditions and trends, and teaching cooking classes in collaboration with 18 Reasons, SF's Italian Cultural Institute and Italian Consulate, Cavallo Point Lodge Cooking School, Draeger’s in San Mateo and Blackhawk and Pepperberries in Eugene, OR. Since 2013, she has been a brand ambassador for Baci, the iconic Italian chocolates made by Perugina, the worldwide confectionery brand founded by her great grandfather. Viola has also produced food articles and cooking videos for MissionLocal.org. Recently, she began speaking on panels about tradition and innovation in food production and leading groups to explore local and artisanal food systems and producers in Italy. You can follow her adventures and find information on traveling with her at www.violabuitoni.com.

_{Photo courtesy of Foodie Factor on Pexels}