The North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle, in suburban Chicago, is hosting its sixth annual Festa della Sopressata on April 25. The competition pits local sopressata makers in a battle for first, second and third place.

Attended by more than 80 people last year, the event is hosted by chef Anthony Iannone, NAPCA founder, and co-sponsored by Pastorelli Food Products and Triaforni, an Italian manufacturer of pizza ovens and related products.

Special hosts include Frank “The Sodfather” Balestri, a past winner and now instructor of sopressata classes at NAPCA. Judging will be led by past winner Lou Santilo.

The event will feature a Calabrese-style luncheon that includes an antipasto, Pizza Rustica, Pizza in Teglia and Farfalle Alforno con Melanzane.

Tickets are $25 per competitor (one person per entry) with a 20-person maximum, and $45 per person for the luncheon, which is open to noncompetitors. Wine and beer will be available for purchase.

NAPCA offers a variety of demonstrations and hands-on cooking classes for adults, teens and children, along with a five-day pizzaioli course that includes theory and hands-on learning according to the guidelines and curriculum of the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in Italy. The company also hosts events and offers restaurant-consulting services.

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More than 80 people gathered for the first annual Festa della Sopressata competition at the North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle.

Hosted by NAPCA founder and master instructor Leo Spizzirri and his partner, founder and chef instructor Anthony Iannone, the four-hour event was as much of a party for friends and family of the 19 competitors as it was a serious tournament for the best homemade sopressata.

Judges included Frank DeCicco of the Calabresi In America Organization. “I was honored to be selected and humbled by the passion every contestant showed for maintaining this great Calabrese tradition,” DeCicco says.

Coming in first were Giacomo and Mario Manfredini, with second place going to Ross Morizzo and third to Frank Salerno. Many of the recipes had been passed down for generations. “This was more than a competition,” says Spizzirri, “It was about keeping a part of my Calabrese upbringing alive here in the United States. Making sopressata was something I remember doing with my family as a kid and we still do it to this day.”

While the sopressate were being judged and passed around to taste, guests enjoyed glasses of wine and a Calabresi luncheon buffet provided by NAPCA that included antipasto, frittata di supressata, purpette ccu sucu, ’nzalata, pasta e patate aru furnu and izza in teglia.

Festa della Sopressata was co-sponsored by Tempesta Artisan Salumi and the Calabresi in America Organization. (www.pizzaculinaryacademy.com)

The North American Pizza & Culinary Academy in Lisle celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 11.

THE NAPCA offers culinary classes to students of all skill levels, including a five-day program that will allow students to earn the designation of Certified Pizzaiolo. A part of the prestigious Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in Venice, NAPCA is one of two schools in the United States to offer this level of accreditation.

Although pizza is the primary focus of the school, a wide variety of other culinary classes are offered, covering everything from basic knife skills and artisanal baking techniques to explorations of specific culinary themes. Pizza classes are led by a master instructor and all other classes are led by professional chefs.

NAPCA is owned and operated by Master Istruttore Leo Spizzirri and Chef Instructor Anthony Iannone. Spizzirri was first certified as a pizzaiolo at the International School of Pizza in San Francisco before completing his studies at Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli, where he received his Master Istruttore certification. Iannone served as a head chef for Bice, an international restaurant group, and was involved in high-profile restaurant projects in Perth, Australia, and Mexico City.

The NAPCA facility includes a 50-seat, theater-style demo kitchen, a temperature-controlled dough room with several industry-grade mixers, a showroom of top pizza oven lines, and a retail area.

Master pizza-making classes of one to five days range in price from $750 to $2,900, and culinary classes for kids and adults range in price from $50 to $140. (pizzaculinaryacademy.com)