Florence Cooking Class

Okay, I just had to do a whole post dedicated to our Florence cooking class experience. This was hands down our favorite thing we did on our trip to Italy back in September. When I found the company online and read the reviews, I knew it would be tons of fun and I'm working on my culinary skills so it was a win-win situation :)

Our group had a total of 8 people. This included a Canadian couple on their honeymoon and two couples who were empty nesters from Colorado. There is something about traveling and being in a new place that allows people from all over the world to come together and have common ground. We all had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know each other.

We started off by going to an outdoor produce stand to grab some of the ingredients for our meal. We got zucchini, tomatoes, and fresh basil. Outdoor fruit and vegetable markets are all over Europe and I'm obsessed. I love the colors and the social aspect of buying your fruits and veggies from a vendor. After the market we stopped at a small cheese shop (OMG!) and we got to taste different cheeses based on how long they had been aged. I've never met a cheese I didn't like (except goat cheese, not a fan!) so I was in heaven! We grabbed fresh ricotta cheese and a baguette and then we were off to the kitchen.

The first thing we did when we got to the kitchen was prepare our pasta dough since it needs to sit for at least 30 minutes before you make it into pasta. We had to mix flour and eggs and then kneaded the dough until it bounced back when you touched it. We then chopped the zucchini and the chef talked to us about making vegetable stock. One thing I thought was really cool was that we didn't throw anything away. The zucchini flowers, the ends of the onions, etc. were all used later in our meal or was used in the vegetable stock. With the zucchini we made the filling for our ravioli that we would make a little later. The stuffing had ricotta cheese, zucchini, and basil in it. SO.GOOD!

Our chef demonstrating how to make the dough!

Drew was ready to chop! 

Next, we started on DESSERT! If you know me at all, you know I have the world's biggest sweet tooth. The dessert we were making was summer tiramisu which includes peaches instead of a coffee flavor. We then chopped the peaches and made homemade whipped cream. We then assembled our desserts: lady fingers (an Italian cookie) on the bottom, peaches, whipped cream, more peaches, topped with more whipped cream. Is your mouth watering yet? We stuck these in the fridge until after our meal.

Fresh, juicy peaches! 

Drew making his dessert! 

With our finished products! 

We then had a little snack of fresh focaccia bread and salami and then got back to work. It was time to take our pasta dough and make the pasta! We made two different types of pasta: Tagliatelle (similar to fettuccine) and ravioli. We had to roll the dough with a rolling pin and then use the pasta maker to thin it out and then cut it into the tagliatelle. Using the pasta maker is so much fun. Once the pasta was super thin you then ran it through the other side of the maker and it cut it into thin strips. You then took that pasta and put flour on it so it wouldn't stick together.

Thinning out the dough!

This is my "OMG I just made pasta" face!! 

After this, we then made the ravioli. We did the same process as with the tagliatelle but instead of cutting it into thin strips we laid it on the table and put about a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture about an inch or so apart. Then, we folded it over and pressed all around it to keep the filling inside. We used a pasta cutting wheel to cut each individual ravioli and to have the curvy edges.

Drew cutting the ravioli! 

This was the pasta that 4 people made!  

Once we had made all the pasta, the chef took everything we had made, put it all together, and served us our meal. We sat around a big table and enjoyed each other's company while we had the following courses:

Appetizer: Bruschetta with tomato, basil, and olive oil on a slice of bread

First Entree: Zucchini ricotta ravioli in a butter sage sauce. 

Second Entree: Basil pesto tagliatelle 

Dessert: Summer Tiramisu 

When we got back from our Italy trip we decided to buy our own pasta maker because we loved the class so much. We have made pasta once since being back and it was a lot of fun and super delicious. I highly recommend anyone try a cooking class either when traveling or maybe in your city. Not only was it informational but it was so much fun! This is one of those memories Drew and I will always talk about!

So, what do you think would be your favorite from our meal? Let me know in the comments! Anyone hungry?

xoxo
Liz