Cooking Classes at Sur La Table
/My long time ride or die girls and I had a private cooking class at Sur La Table! Okay, quick confession: by private class I mean an open pizza-making class, and we were the only people registered for that class. So, we lucked out and had the whole kitchen and instructor to ourselves.
Unfortunately, Arielle was sick that morning and was missing in action. :(
Appetizers
Our class was first thing on a Sunday morning, and the shopping center in Walnut Creek was barely opening their doors. When we walked into the kitchen, they offered us (much needed) coffee, and even prepared snacks for us to eat before we got started!
...so no, we did not make the appetizers. We just ate them. :)
blackberries and grapes
proscuitto wrapped peaches with balsamic vinegar
The Kitchen
Making Pizza Dough
We started off by making our pizza dough from scratch: mixing all our ingredients together, kneading the dough and then allowing time for it to rise.
Activating the yeast with a little sugar, and stirring until it becames frothy like the top of a beer
Using the kitchenaid to make our pizza dough, pouring the dry ingredients first.
Joanna tossing pizza dough like a pro.
Kneading the pizza dough, and then we let it sit to rise.
Homemade Marinara Sauce
While our pizza dough was rising, we learned to make our own marinara sauce from scratch as well. We added crushed garlic, added a hint of red wine, seasoned it with thyme, basil and mixed those ingredients with our tomato sauce and creating the perfect saucy base for our pizza!
Getting garlic ready for our marinara sauce from scratch
Topping it off
There was one step that we didn't get many pictures off. Once our dough was bouncy and had finally risen, we used a rolling pin to flatten what became our pizza crust and set it over the stovetop for a few minutes.
Next, the easiest and most fun part of the entire pizza making process... adding the toppings! We were given two options and could mix and match as we pleased. One option was heirloom tomatoes, proscuitto and garlic. Our second option was fennel, sausage and kalamata olives.
The trays of topping ingredients were labeled and laid out so nicely for us in small glass bowls.
The End Result
We placed them in the oven when they finally came out, we were ready to eat! Each of our pizzas came out delicious, and we even got to use our extra ingredients for a second round.
Overall, we loved the Sur la table experience! It was so different from other things we usually do with one another. Such a fun bonding activity and we plan to take another class together in the future!
