Learn to use garden abundance and cooking for a crowd or gifts

As summer wanes and harvest season is upon us, cooking classes proliferate for learning how to best use what’s been grown.

A hands-on past a making class for those 12 through 17 takes place at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking, 8613 Mayfield Road, Chester Township. The young people will make pasta from scratch, then feast on fresh Tomato-Caprese Fettuccine, Cheese Ravioli with Lemon Cream Sauce, Ricotta Cavatelli with Pesto. Quick Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad and a fresh fruit tart. The twohour class is $45.

Two days later, adults will discover the secrets of making pasta for a crowd in a class led by Loretta Paganini. Menu for the demonstration class at 6 p.m. Aug. 20 will be Penne with Hazelnut Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzarella; Orecchiette with Grilled Summer Vegetables and Goat Cheese; Pici Pasta alla Puttanesca; Rigatoni with Grilled Chicken, Mushroom and Fontina; Lobster Mac and Cheese with Lemon Crumble; and Peach Gelato with Almond Biscotti. This 2.5hour class costs $55.

Register for either or both at 440 729-1110 or lpscinc.com.

Pickles know-how

Pickles take the stage on Aug. 21 when Judi Strauss leads a two-hour class in the kitchen at Wildwood Cultural Center, 7645 Little Mountain Road, Mentor.

The class will cover everything from old-fashioned crock pickles to pickled peaches. Learn what you need to know to make pickles from home and as gifts.

Taste several types of pickles and learn how to use them in cooking. Get recipes and discover how to make relishes and use up those green tomatoes.

The fee is $17, with a $3 discount for Mentor residents. There is an additional $8 food fee for everyone payable on class night.

Register at 440-9745720.

Bread baking series

A three-session bread baking series with Johnson & Wales University Chef on Assignment Peter Reinhard begins at 6 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Loretta Paganini School of Cooking, 8613 Mayfield Road, Chester Township. Classes are $95 each or the take trio of three-hour classes for $255.

Recipes from his book “Bread Baker’s Apprentice” will be featured the first evening. Menu: Pain a l’Ancienne (from which three products will be made); Sprouted Wheat Flour and Barley Batards; Sprouted Wheat Bialys with Onion-Poppy Filling; and Struan (a multigrain harvest bread that Reinhard considers the best toasting bread in the world);

Perfect Pan Pizzas are the subject for the class at 6 p.m. Aug. 17. Designed for baking in a home oven, these pizzas have crackly buttery crusts. Menu: Detroit-Style Classic “RedStripe” and also DetroitStyle “Pepperoni Deluxe”; Roman-Style Bianca and Rossa Pizzas; Focaccia Genovese with Tomatoes and Pesto; Sicilian Clams Casino Pizza; and a Grandma-Style Reverse Cheese and Sauce pizza.

Sourdough Breads: From Starter to Loaf takes place at 10 a.m. Aug. 18. Learn to make a wild yeast sourdough starter from scratch that can be kept alive forever and find out how to use it to make traditional loaves.

An antipasto selection also will be served. Menu: Sourdough Batards with Toasted Walnuts and Blue Cheese; French-style Wild Yeast Sourdough Bread; Sourdough Country Bread with Cooked Grain; and Sourdough Deep-Pan Pizza.

Register at 440-729-1110 or lpscinc.com.