Three brand new recipes for you to try this month: pizza with artichokes, tomatoes, and basil; tagliatelle with pesto and zucchini blossoms; and warm berries over vanilla gelato. To learn more delicious recipes with James Beard-nominated cookbook author Micol Negrin, join us at our NYC cooking school this summer for hands-on cooking classes.

We love cooking in the summer. There's nothing quite like picking basil fresh from the garden, combing the farmers' markets for fragrant berries and ripe vegetables, then getting into the kitchen and creating spur-of-the-moment feasts of flavor.

And so here we are, with three brand new summer recipes for you to try at home! To access this month's new recipes, click here.

If you love summertime food as much as we do, there are two new cooking classes you won't want to miss this month. On August 8, we'll prepare a succulent Roman summer menu featuring our four favorite Roman dishes. This class is our way of inviting you to Rome for an evening, so you can savor some of the Eternal City's most delicious dishes. We'll start by making our favorite pasta sauce in the world: amatriciana, a lightly spicy tomato sauce featuring chunks of Pancetta and slivered onion, a hint of garlic and chili, and a generous sprinkling of freshly grated Pecorino Romano. Amatriciana is absolutely perfect with homemade gnocchi; on August 8, we'll make our gnocchi with fresh Ricotta instead of potatoes, and the result is sheer magic. As a main course, we'll prepare lamb saltimbocca (our take on veal saltimbocca, and just as addictive): we'll roll thin slices of lamb around buttery Provolone and savory Prosciutto, sprinkle the bundles with fresh herbs for extra flavor, and cook them in a veil of white wine. For a side dish, we'll do as the Romans do, and slow-cook broccoli raab in true Roman style with chili and garlic to serve alongside our lamb bundles. And for dessert, we'll bake a delicious crème caramel: a rich, flan-like dessert you'll find on most Roman restaurant menus, but always best made at home. The crème caramel we'll make tonight is silky smooth and so satisfying, flavored with just a hint of vanilla. This menu is going to be paired with three top-rated Italian wines, and the result will be a memorable evening of food and wine like no other. Sign up before this class sells out!

Flavors of Rome Menu, August 8:
Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi in Amatriciana Sauce
Herbed Lamb Saltimbocca Stuffed with Provolone & Prosciutto
Broccoli Raab with Garlic & Chili
Mom's Crème Caramel (Traditional Flan with Caramelized Sugar)

Wines served:

• Principessa Gavia Gavi 2007
• Cos Pojo di Lupo 2005
• Villa Di Corsano Rosso 2001

To reserve our Flavors of Rome Class on August 8, call us at 917-602-1519 or click here.

And if you love southern Italian cuisine, be sure to reserve our cooking class on August 25. We'll share our ultimate Pugliese menu with you, culled from years of travel in this beautiful southern Italian region. We'll start off with a hearty pasta that combines the very best of land and sea: handmade cavatelli pasta with chickpeas and mussels, flavored with chili, garlic, and tomato. Next, we'll slow cook lamb with wild fennel; we'll serve our lamb with garlicky stuffed peppers, and finish our Pugliese feast with crispy, sweet olive oil cookies laced with anise seeds.

Evening in Puglia Menu, August 25:
Cavatelli Pasta with Chickpeas, Cockles, & Mussels
Tender Lamb with Wild Fennel & Peas
Stuffed Peppers with Bread Crumbs, Pecorino, & Garlic
Anise & White Wine Biscotti

Wines Served:

• Villa Arianna Frascati 2006
• Cos Pojo di Lupo 2005
• Petrilli Agramante 2003

To reserve our Evening in Puglia Class on August 25, call us at 917-602-1519 or click here.

And there are many other wonderful cooking classes this summer and fall. We have dozens of new regional cooking classes focusing on every corner of Italy, as well as classes on specific techniques (fish and seafood, fresh pasta, risotto, traditional desserts, biscotti, and more). Check out our detailed class calendar and sign up online, or call us at 917-602-1519.

If you'd prefer to cook with a group of friends or colleagues at your own cooking party, don't hesitate to inquire about our private cooking parties and team-buiding events... especially now that our capacity has doubled! We've also added some fabulous new recipes to our private party menus, so be sure to take a look here.

We hope you'll try the recipes in this newsletter and we look forward to cooking with you soon!

Happy cooking!

There's no better way to mark a special occasion - be it a bachelorette party, bridal shower, birthday or anniversary - than with a wooden spoon in hand and good food simmering on the stove.

If you're looking for an effective, fun way to bond with colleagues, a cooking party is an original team-building exercise that will leave you and your guests smiling long after the cooking is done. As team members learn essential culinary techniques and master new recipes, they also strengthen bonds and relationships in a fun, informal environment.

Call us to inquire about hosting your private cooking party or team-building event at RUSTICO COOKING this year.

Past corporate clients include Google, AmEx, Newsweek, Victoria's Secret, NBC, and many more... Click here for more on our clients.

Call us at 917-602-1519 to check on availability. Parties last 3 hours and you can create your own tailor-made menu... You can also add on a wine tasting if you like. Click for more information.

Cooking Class Calendar

Our new cooking class calendar is online through December 2008... So if you like planning ahead, take a look at our new menus and offerings for 2008. There's something for everyone: as always, we have plenty of regional classes focusing on every corner of Italy, but also classes on specific techniques (seafood, lasagna, cannelloni, risotto, biscotti, and more). We're bringing back three classes that sold out very quickly last season: our Garlic Lovers' Festival (September 12); our Evening in Parma (October 13); and our Dinner in Chianti (November 3). And one new class we are especially excited about is devoted to the pleasures of the buffet table: on Friday October 17, we'll unveil our Ultimate Buffet Menu featuring 10 fabulous dishes, each more delicious than the other, all extremely doable, all perfectly suited to entertaining at home. If you're a fan of savoring many small dishes, a fan of big, vibrant flavors, then this is the class for you; and since we know it will fill up fast, we suggest you sign up as soon as possible.

Cooking classes at RUSTICO COOKING are entirely hands-on rather than demonstration. In each class, you'll learn to prepare 4 to 5 recipes from start to finish, and get a firm grasp of basic cooking techniques and an understanding of essential Italian ingredients. You'll then sit down and enjoy the dishes you cooked, paired with specially selected Italian wines, with your evening's companions.

Lessons last 3 hours and start at 6 PM. Classes include an average of 90 minutes of hands-on cooking, followed by a full meal paired with 3 wines.

You can book classes online using your credit card or call us at 917-602-1519 to reserve.

Here's a recent email from a cooking class student: "I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful class on Tuesday night. John and I had so much fun cooking, learning and chatting with everyone. I learned a lot of great tricks and tips and I can't wait to get a potato ricer and make the gnocchi recipe again. You also made John, a first-time cook, feel comfortable in the kitchen and hopefully eager to try out his new skills at home! Afterwards, we both said the evening felt more like an evening in a friend's kitchen than a formal cooking class. We're looking forward to bringing some friends along to try another class sometime soon. Thank you again!" Amy, NYC

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New Recipes

We've added 3 brand new recipes to our web site this month. Let us know which dishes you prepare!

Here are links to the new recipes:

Vanilla Gelato Topped with Warm Blueberries	Tagliatelle with Basil Pesto and Zucchini Blossoms
Pizza with Artichoke Hearts	Access Our Complete Recipe Index Here