Class Title: A Taste of Tuscany: Handcrafted Ricotta Gnocchi Meal
Full Class Description: Step into the world of Italian-inspired elegance with this hands-on culinary experience. You’ll learn to create ricotta gnocchi—delicate, cloud-like morsels of goodness prized for their refined melt-in-your-mouth texture and subtle flavor. Far from ordinary, these handcrafted bites capture the essence of rustic Italian cooking while bringing a touch of sophistication to your table. Once prepared, the gnocchi will be turned into a restaurantworthy meal, married with a velvety herb-kissed Tuscan cream sauce and paired with tender chicken. A beautiful soft, French-style loaf of bread will be baked to accompany this luxurious dish. This interactive cook-along is more than a class—it is an experience, an invitation to savor, to learn, and to bring the taste of Tuscany into your home. Equipment Needs: A stand-mixer and dough hook attachment is recommended for the bread. A Gnocchi board is optional. More information will be included in the ingredient list packet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While cooking-along is loads of fun, and highly recommended, it is optional. Participants will receive a list of ingredients in advance of the class with enough time for shopping and preparation. A professionally made PDF packet of the Instructors Personal Recipes from this class will also be received. This class will take place on Zoom, free online software. Participants will receive instructions on how to access the class prior to it starting. The instructor’s recipes are copyrighted and are only shared with those who register for this class. As an added bonus, the instructor has created a private group and a public group on Facebook for participants of her cooking classes. Everyone will receive an invite to the groups although joining is optional. Come join the fun! Note: One registration fee covers immediate family members living full-time in the same household. Adult supervision is required if children participate. If friends, adult children, or extended family members are participating together, EACH separate household must register SEPARATELY
Instructor biography: Tess Georgakopoulos, also known as “Chef Tess—Culinary Artist”, has been cooking and baking for well over 45 years since she was roughly 6 years old. Born into a Greek family, the art of cooking traditional meals using one's own hands and creativity was and continues to be an expression of love in her home. Her father was also a trained chef who brought the magic of food to life in another form on the weekends as they cooked elaborate family meals together. As an accomplished cook and baker and always working towards expanding her culinary repertoire, Tess enjoys experimenting in her test kitchen daily creating new recipes, creative culinary techniques and building “Gold Standard” culinary experiences for communities across Minnesota and beyond. Tess is proficient and experienced in creating cook-along experiences and curriculum for conventional cooking, baking, pressure-cooking, air frying, pizza making, Mediterranean Cooking, and meal preparation as well. More recently, she has expanded her creativity and experience in the creation of Cooking Master Classes! A Culinary Artist indeed! She has been teaching both in-person and on-line cooking classes through community education for a number of years, and is currently working with almost 60 public school districts in and around the Twin Cities, in many corners of Minnesota, in addition to school districts in Wisconsin, Missouri, New York, and Oklahoma, having worked with just over 5000 participants over the years. Through her teaching, Tess has helped people of all skill levels increase their confidence and expand their skills in the kitchen reaching heights of their own personal creativity that they never knew existed, all while having fun and creating memories to last a lifetime. Her motto, eloquently put, is to make “dishing” delicious, and simple. Tess has recently started writing her first cookbook, and her food blog is also in the works! Some of her creations can be seen on her Facebook page, “Dish it up Good”, https://www.facebook.com/dishitupgood/ or on her Instagram Feed.