Doughn’t you want to know what we did today?

This is a hypothetical company created for a class.

Bio: Young Chefs’ Academy is a Blacksburg-based program focused on educating children ages 9-15 on sustainability and healthy eating habits through cooking classes of various difficulties. We use locally-sourced, organic ingredients to create delicious meals while having fun and learning where the food we eat comes from. Stop by to check out what’s cooking or to sign up for classes!

Today’s beginner class of Young Chefs had a blast learning how to make something every kid seems to love: pizza!

PHOTO CREDIT: ANN CATES VIA FACEBOOK

We started by preparing the sauce. The recipe we use is gluten-free, vegan-friendly, and only takes a few minutes. I won’t explain the details in this post, but if you would like the recipe, feel free to comment or send an email asking for it.

Unfortunately, it takes more time than we have during a class for dough to rise, so our students used dough that we had made earlier. However, we still taught them the steps, and gave them a recipe to take home so that they can make their own dough at a later time. While going over the steps we talked about the importance of yeast; you should’ve seen some of their faces when they learned that yeast are living things and that they are the reason dough rises! 

Our chefs had a lot of fun flattening out their dough ball and making it the right shape. Some didn’t stretch their dough enough, and some stretched it so thin they made a hole, but everyone mastered the technique eventually.

When all participants were ready to move on, we spread the sauce we made earlier, and then we discussed other healthy, sustainable options for toppings. At Young Chefs’ Academy, we use products from a local dairy farmer and purchase all produce from various organic farmers. 

We always suggest that our chefs and their families try to make more sustainable eating choices. 

Staff helped pop the finished pizzas into the oven while our chefs—somewhat—patiently waited for the timer to go off. They all counted down the last five seconds, excited to see their creations. At the end of class, the room was filled with a delicious aroma, happy smiles, and lots of positive “Mmm Mmm”s. 

Stay tuned to find out what other cheesy treat we’re making next class!