The Chopping Block Cooking Blog

How to Make Homemade Italian Sausage: A Step-by-Step Guide

Italian sausage is one of my favorite pork products, because it can be used in so many delicious applications from pasta sauce to meatballs, used as a pizza topping, added to stuffing or in stuffed ...

Chicken Cacciatore: The Perfect Braised Dinner for a Chilly Night

Chicken Cacciatore is an Italian country-style braised dish perfect for the cold weather that includes onions, mushrooms, carrots, garlic, peppers, herbs and tomatoes. The word cacciatore means ...

Two-Ingredient Handmade Pasta

I’m not only a chef instructor at The Chopping Block, but I also develop the curriculum you see on our monthly calendars. It’s a big job that requires the help of my fellow colleagues, so once a ...

Picnic Panna Cotta: A Refreshing, No-Bake Summer Dessert

I was recently tasked with bringing dessert to a family dinner, but with the hot weather beating down on us I immediately knew there was no way I was going to fire up my oven to bake anything. So I ...

What Makes Italian Wine So Good?

Italy is still our favorite wine import, outpacing second place France in both dollars and volume, according to Wine Business Monthly, April 2021. So, what makes Italian wine so good?

Notoriously Good Gnocchi

There is nothing more special to me than perfectly light, fluffy, pillowy gnocchi! Sometimes that texture can be hard to achieve, though. I know I have eaten my fair share of dense and tough ...

Risotto Rules for an Impressive Dish

Risotto is always a popular dish in our cooking classes, and I love making it for dinner parties and giving tips to my friends. Knowing how to make a good risotto is something I think every home cook ...

Remembering My First

There is classic saying that you always remember your first. Does that phrase ring true for you? I thought of that today because this is my first “official” blog post for The Chopping Block, and I ...

Lasagna: A Look Between the Layers

I love making lasagna, and it has been a Christmas tradition in our house for as long as I can remember. For Christmas Eve, we always celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes, but on Christmas day, ...

Ragú Bolognese: The Ultimate Sunday Supper

I dream about pasta on a regular basis. No joke! It’s seriously the food my dreams are made of, and I could easily eat it every day. I restrain myself from doing so, but I do try and work it into ...