Authentic Italian Cooking Class in Florence

An absolute must do activity while you are in Italy is taking a cooking class. Jonathon and I did a group cooking class last time we were in Florence on our honeymoon and we absolutely loved it! However, this time around, we wanted to do something a little bit more authentic and private (since we were also traveling with my parents). After hours of research, we stumbled across a website connecting us with a local gentleman named Jacopo who has been cooking since he was a young boy and eventually working as a chef for many years at a restaurant in Florence.

We met Jacopo at his mother’s apartment in Florence where he had laid out all of the fresh ingredients we would be cooking with to make our authentic Italian meal.

Now preparing a full Italian meal is no easy task, but luckily we had several hours, 5 people (1 being an amazing chef and teacher), and big appetites!

First up on the menu was a very traditional salad eaten in Florence. This included fresh cucumber, tomato, red onion (soaked in red wine vinegar for an hour as a marinade), basil, stale sourdough bread (which had been soaked in water and wrung out), and lots of olive oil!

Next up were two different kinds of pasta. First we made the dough for our homemade ravioli, which would be filled with fresh ricotta cheese and spinach and topped with a butter sage sauce. Now if you have never made your own pasta dough, it is something that I highly recommend doing… While it is definitely a challenge, nothing beats handmade pasta!

The second type of pasta we made was gnocchi, which is actually made with just boiled potatoes, flour, and Parmesan. I was absolutely shocked at how easy it was to make the gnocchi. This was then topped with a simple tomato sauce including tomatoes, garlic, onion and basil. I will absolutely be making homemade gnocchi at home now that I know how simple it is!

Last, but certainly not least, we finished with a classic Italian dessert…. Tiramisu!

I can easily say that this was one of the best meals of the entire trip! Not only was the meal delicious, but we learned so much about Italian food, new cooking techniques, and most importantly we had SO much fun!