A Busy New Year in Titina's Kitchen--

Gift cards for Titina's cooking classes were a hot item this holiday season.  So much so that they ran out of the plastic ones in the Capri Flavors retail store and had to go to paper.

But there are still spaces available in the Winter Classes, even those around  Valentine's Day. 

More than dinner out--Capri Flavors Chef Titina Vuotto's cooking classes are an interactive, fun and memorable evening.   Students of all skill levels prepare a multi-course meal together, then sit around the big kitchen table and enjoy it family style. 

Make that-- Italian Family Style--which means lingering at the table, talking and laughing into the night.

In the words of a recent student:

                       "The food and fellowship were fantastic.  My wife and I could
                        picture ourselves at the home of friends in Italy enjoying a
                        festive meal."

To eat more like an Italian at your home, make an evening of it.  Begin with Titina's easy bruschetta or good bread and Capri Flavors Olive Oil. 
End with Cappuccino or Espresso and a little iced Lemoncello.  The food can be simple, but the conversation must be lively.  Enjoy. 

Here's the appetizer  recipe, followed by Titina's Winter Class Schedule--

Titina's Classic Bruschetta

• Slice a baguette into 1/2 inch pieces and toast them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes
• Finely chop grape tomatoes and fresh basil  leaves (which have been washed and dried wrapped in kitchen towels)
• Mince or press 2-3 cloves of garlic (Titina uses a nifty and inexpensive garlic press that Capri Flavors sells)
• Combine tomatoes, herbs, and dress with salt and pepper and lots of olive oil   
• Then spoon over crispy bread and serve. "Lots of oil, little tomato", says Titina

Like most classic Italian food, it is a simple dish that relies on the best ingredients. Enjoy.


Let's Cook with Titina--Winter 2011

CAPRI Menu


Limoncello (Lemon Liquor )

Ravioli “Sciue’-Sciue’” (Ravioli with Cherry Tomato Sauce )

Aragosta Marinara (Lobster in Red Sauce)

Torta di Capri (Almond and Chocolate Cake)

Mondays: 1/3, 1/31, 2/28, 3/28
Fridays: 1/7, 2/4, 3/4, 4/1


ALBEROBELLO Menu

Orecchiette con Rapini (Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli Rape)

Pollo Speziato (Chicken in Apple Sauce)

Piselli al Prosciutto (Green Peas with Prosciutto)

Kodi' d' Amore (Love Knots)

Mondays: 1/10, 2/7, 3/7, 4/4
Fridays: 1/14, 2/11, 3/11, 4/8



NAPOLI Menu

Penne “Aum-Aum !” (Pasta with Eggplants)

Maiale al Finocchio (Pork Tenderloin with Fennel)

Pizza Rustica (Pie with Cheese and Salame)

Pastiera Napoletana (Grain and Ricotta Pie)

Mondays: 1/17, 2/14, 3/14, 4/11
Fridays: 1/21, 2/18, 3/18, 4/13



BELLAGIO Menu

Gnocchi delle Langhe (Spinach Gnocchi with Robiola)

Vitello al Vin Santo (Veal with Vin Santo)

Cavolofiore Stufato (Cauliflower with Raisins)

Pere al Vino (Pears and Wine)

Mondays: 1/24, 2/21, 3/21
Fridays: 1/28. 2/25, 3/25



For more information call 919 462-9255

                     

A Recipe for Wealth--Titina's Cotechino Recipe

Italian tradition says this meal will bring weath in the new year.  Here's Titina's recipe for Cotechiono and lentils--a wonderful winter dish.
Titina's Cotechino con Lenticchie

(Straight off the recipe card from the Capri Flavors retail store, Morrisville NC)

Capri, Naples and Two Newcomers in Titina's Winter Menus

It's been a busy few months in Titina's kitchen.   An accompolished Italian chef and former restaurant owner, she's taught a record breaking number of students this fall.  

The fall schedule ends in December.  But Titina hopes the excitment about her cooking classess will carry over into the new year.   She's picked some great menus, favoite recipes and two new towns to highlight for Winter 2011--Bellagio, a beautiful resort and spa on the shores of romantic Lake Como
And Alberobello, a small town in Puglia, which has become a hot spot for tourtists and a UNESCO world heritage site. 

So plan a culianry tour of Italy with Titina in her Morrisville NC kitchen.  Here are the menus and class dates for Winter 2011. 

And don't forget--Titina's classes make great holiday gifts for cooks or want-to-be-s. 

CAPRI Menu

Limoncello  (Lemon Liquor )

Ravioli “Sciue’-Sciue’”  (Ravioli with Cherry Tomato  Sauce )

Aragosta Marinara    (Lobster in Red Sauce)

Torta di Capri (Almond and Chocolate Cake)

Mondays: 1/3, 1/31, 2/28, 3/28

Fridays: 1/7, 2/4, 3/4, 4/1

 

 

ALBEROBELLO Menu
Orecchiette con Rapini (Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli Rape)
Pollo Speziato  (Chicken in Apple Sauce)
Piselli al Prosciutto (Green Peas with Prosciutto)
Kodi' d' Amore (Love Knots)  
Mondays: 1/10, 2/7, 3/7, 4/4
Fridays: 1/14, 2/11, 3/11, 4/8


NAPOLI Menu
Penne “Aum-Aum !” (Pasta with Eggplants)
Maiale al Finocchio (Pork Tenderloin with Fennel)
Pizza Rustica (Pie with Cheese and Salame)
Pastiera Napoletana (Grain and Ricotta Pie)
Mondays: 1/17, 2/14, 3/14, 4/11
Fridays: 1/21, 2/18, 3/18, 4/13


BELLAGIO  Menu
Gnocchi delle Langhe (Spinach Gnocchi with Robiola)
Vitello al Vin Santo (Veal with Vin Santo)
Cavolofiore Stufato (Cauliflower with Raisins)

Pere al Vino (Pears and Wine)
Mondays: 1/24, 2/21, 3/21
Fridays: 1/28. 2/25, 3/25

For more information call 919 462-9255
or enroll online at http://www.capriflavors.com/

The Pictures say it all--A New Slide Show From Titina's Kitchen

Beautiful food--happy students--fun classes--
Step into Titina's kitchen in this new slide show from Capri Flavors and see what it's like to cook with the aclaimed Italian Chef. 

(And yes, that is movie star Kurt Douglas romping on the beach at Capri with Titina and her cousin.  Titina's beautiful home island has been a destination for the rich and famous since Roman times.)

Don't forget to turn up your speakers for some great Napoli music to get you in the mood and click on the link below--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldCaCAa3KWo

New Life for Last Night's Risotto--Arancine from Titina's Kitchen

Chef Titina's students enjoy themselves in her cooking classes.  The food is gourmet, the conversation is lively.  Students linger around the big Italian table and there are usually very few leftovers from the delicious 5 course meal everyone helps prepare.   But on those rare occasions when everything isn't eaten...Titina upcycles.

Like most great Italian cooks, she respects her ingredients and  never wastes them.  So last Monday night's risotto became Tuesday's lovely Arancine.  The name means "little oranges" and it perfectly describes  these golden-fried, stuffed rice balls from Sicily. 

"Stuff them with what you like," Titina says.  Ground beef and peas are very popular, also peas and mozzarella, or mozzarella and ham. 

The process is simple.  Titina doesn't use a recipe. 

First--she combines risotto with egg yoke.

Forms balls in her hand, around filling.  (Just hunks of buffalo mozzarella on Tuesday)

Dips in egg white

Rolls in bread crumbs

Fries in Olive Oil

Here's a link to a recipe on another blog that has some great pictures of the process: http://www.othersideoffifty.com/2009/10/risotto-balls-arancini.htm

And for Titina's Fall menus and classes click here--Let's Cook with Titina

A Last Taste of Summer--From Titina's Kitchen

Chef Titina is famous for her pesto.  She makes jars to freeze for winter, and to sell in the Capri Flavors retail store.  And while Summer may officially end tonight--there's still time to enjoy this classic flavor in a great pasta recipe from Titina's kitchen.

Pesto is a  speciality of Genoa,  the famous seaport and garden spot on Italy's West coast.   Here it is combined with green beans, potatoes and just a dab of butter to make a creamy,  fresh tasting pasta dish.  

You can make your own pesto, or bypass that step and use a jar of the excellent Polli Pesto sold at Capri Flavors. 

This dish works well with linguine type pastas or try one of the great new, organic whole wheat pastas from Capri Flavors' expanded selection--the largest in the US.   Don't forget to save some of the cooking water to bring the dish together. 

 

Pasta alla Genovese (Pasta with Pesto)

Ingredients:

2 bunches basil

5 tbsp. pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. Pecorino Romano; grated

1 tbsp. Parmesan; grated

1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 potatoes; cut into pieces

5 oz. green beans; cut into pieces

1 pound pasta

1 tbsp. butter

Serves 4; Preparation: 15 minutes; Cooking Time: 15 minutes; Level of difficulty:

Simple

Wash and dry the basil. Put the basil, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor and work until it is a paste consistency. While the food processor is still running, add the cheese and oil a little at a time until everything is smooth.

About 10 minutes before cooking the pasta, cook the potatoes and green beans in slightly salted water until tender. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Before draining the pasta, stir the butter and a little bit of the pastas cooking water into the pesto to dilute it and give it a creamier consistency. Drain the pasta and vegetables, dress with the pesto, and serve.

Busy Days in Titina's Kitchen

August was a banner month for Titina's popular cooking classes.  An  accomplished Italian chef and native of Capri, she set a record--bringing more students into her Morrisville, NC  kitchen than ever before.

Private classes were the the tipping point.  As sales and projects pick up, local companies are once again using "Let's cook with Titina" as a fun way to build teams, energize staff and clients. 

When the busy chef needs a burst of energy between classes, Titina reaches for one of the fine whole wheat Italian pastas Capri Flavors sells and makes this quick and easy sauce.  Sciue-Sciue has long been a staple in her kitchen. 

The version below is reprinted from the recipe book  “Red ,White and Greens” by Faith Willinger who learned to make this dish in Titina's Capri Kitchen. 




Titina's Move It! (Sciue'- Sciue') Pasta


For 4-6 Servings First Course

Titina and Costanzo Vuotto own the Restaurant Le Sirene on Capri and Titina is one of the island's best cooks. She prepares lunch next to the sea in the summer and taught me to make sciue'-sciue' pasta, easier to prepare than pronounce (say shoo-AYE shoo-AYE). It's regional dialect, a slang expression to accelerate movement in an area known for its languid Mediterranean pace. Local cherry tomatoes packed with flavor called pomodorini di spugnito are hurried into a sauce with garlic, cooked with al dente spaghetti, sprinkled with a fistful of fragrant basil. A cerasiéllo, red hot cherry pepper, sometimes makes sciue'sciue' pasta even livelier.

5-6 quarts water

2-3 tablespoons salt plus fine sea salt

14-16 ounces spaghetti “La Caprese” 2 garlic cloves

1 small hot red pepper or chili pepper flakes to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil “La Caprese”

1 pound cherry tomatoes “La Caprese” 3-4 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 Bring 5-6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 2-3 tablespoons salt and the spaghetti and cook until it still offers considerable resistance to the tooth, about three quarters of the cooking time.
2 While the pasta is cooking, sauté the garlic cloves and hot pepper in the oil over moderate heat in a large nonstick skillet. When the garlic barely begins to color add the cherry tomatoes and season lightly with the sea salt. Cook over high heat until the tomatoes loose their shape.

3 Drain the spaghetti and add it to the skillet along with 1 cup of pasta cooking water.
Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, to amalgamate the tomatoes and pasta and to complete cooking. Add more pasta water if the sauce gets too dry.

4 Sprinkle with chopped basil before saving.


--If you'd like to join one of Titina's classes, book on-line or call 919 462-9255 for more information or to discuss private classes.