About a month ago I was invited to a private luncheon cooking event featuring Kansas City based company, Cervasi. It was held at the Culinary Center of Kansas City in Overland Park.

I was thrilled to taste the delicious food in Cervasi’s product line.

All of us were seated at gorgeously decorated tables in front of a chef’s kitchen. Daniela, a culinary instructor, taught us a variety of Italian cooking methods and created the most amazing Italian dishes with the various Cervasi products for us to enjoy. We enjoyed everything from an appetizer to main dish to dessert.

Daniela gave us several fascination tips when cooking Italian such as extra virgin olive oil can be used for cooking everything except deep frying. It is especially good when creating your own sauces.

Use fresh any time you can such as herbs and tomatoes. You can use canned Dinapoli tomatoes which will be a second best next to fresh. Or, try using fresh roma tomatoes for your sauce, just boil for 2 minutes, remove the skin and blend the whole tomatoes.

Cervasi sent us home with a gift bag full of their products including artichokes and olive oil. I use so much olive oil in our home that I absolutely loved receiving it! I am a huge fan of artichokes as well! Their products are the perfect addition to my kitchen. Cervasi specialty foods include imported pasta, extra virgin olive oils, wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar of Modena, artichokes, cheeses, olives, bruschetta and more.

Cervasi has been a Kansas City Specialty food importer since 1989. Cervasi products have been on the shelves in local grocery stores for decades. Their products can be found in KC-metro grocery stores, including Ball’s Hen House, Ball’s Price Chopper, Cosentino’s Price Chopper,Hy-Vee, McKeever’s Price Chopper, Queen’s Price Chopper, and Sunfresh. You can find of a map of locations on Cervasi’s Facebook page.

Connect with Cervasi: Online | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+

Be on the lookout for our artichoke dip recipe made with Cervasi artichokes coming soon! It is a crowd pleaser and perfect for the holidays!

And if you live in the Kansas City area you absolutely MUST check out The Culinary Center. They offer so many amazing cooking classes for individuals, kids and couples. I can’t wait to take my son and do a girls night there!