Full Experience

Transfer from L’Aquila (afternoon, early evening) to your B&B. One of your hosts will be there to meet you. Once at your B&B, you will have time to settle in and freshen up. You will then be taken to Visconti Kitchen for your welcome dinner. You will meet Chef Leonardo and his wife Jaynie and the rest of the team. There will be a short presentation on what to expect during your course

Breakfast and briefing at your B&B

9:30am – Visit to an organic farm with flour mill, saffron, organic beans and pulses, and/or a tour of the Visconti Garden in Stiffe to pick vegetables needed for the day’s cooking class

1pm – Light lunch at Visconti Kitchen

Free time

5pm – Cooking Class 1. Learn to make Handmade Pasta – maccheroni alla chitarra & picci, using local ingredients saffron and truffles and products selected from the garden

Dinner at Visconti Kitchen

~

Sample menu

Traditional lentil soup with croutons and olive oil

Pici(pasta) with saffron and organic cherry tomatoes

Macaroni alla chitarra with truffles

Wild cicoria with garlic and hot chilli peppers

Lemon crostata (creamy lemon pie)

Breakfast and briefing before 7:30am at your B&B

Visit to Campo Felice cheese producer, to see how they make some of the finest cheeses in the area. (An earlier start is needed on this day to actually watch the cheese being made)

11am – Return to Visconti Kitchen for Cooking class 2. Using these delicious cheeses to make anti-pasti and Giardiniera (pickled vegetables the Italian way)

Light lunch

Free time

5pm – Cooking Class 3 and dinner. Stuffed pasta (ravioli) using selected cheeses from the morning visit

~

Sample menu

Seadas; pastry pockets filled with Gorgonzola,prosciutto and pecorino cheese

Ricotta crostinata with saffron and Tartufo

Ravioli filled with spinach/or olaci (wild spinach), and fresh ricotta, with organic tomato sauce

Wild mixed green salad

 Pasta frolla filled  with fresh ricotta, chocolate and homemade gape jelly

Breakfast at your B&B

10am – Cooking class 4. Prepare pizza dough for the evening Class/dinner

Visit to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, one of the most beautiful medieval hill villages in Italy, recognized by the slow food movement for its sustainable agriculture and its lentils

Lunch at a traditional restaurant in the mountains

Free time

7pm – Cooking Class 5. Pizza making, pizza fritta with fresh tomato sauce and a variety of our favourite pizzas with local artiginale beer

~

Sample menu

Pizza fritta with fresh organic  tomato sauce and basil

Pizza with;

Potatoes and rosemary

Wild rocket and Gorgonzola cheese

Mushrooms and sausage

Seasonal vegetables

Semifreddo al cioccolato

Breakfast and briefing before 8:30am at your B&B

Morning foraging (seasonal mushrooms/vegetables)

11am – Cooking Class 6. Preparing secondi (main dishes), and contorni (vegetables, side dishes)

2pm – Lunch at Visconti Kitchen

Free time

6pm – Visit to Stiffe caves (optional)

7:30pm – Casale Liberati, wine bar in Stiffe to taste some of the best Abruzzo wines and a dinner aperitif of delicious local products. This Enoteca is situated in the heart of a little medieval village, nuzzled into the lush green Apennines, overlooking the valley below and the Gran Sasso mountains… the view will take your breath away! Alberto, Agnese and Simona will win over your hearts!

~

Sample Lunch Menu

Ghiotta di  vedura

Wild Boar Stew ( prepare for the next day)

Parmigiana

Carciofi alla giudia (artichokes)-seasonal

Cavoli strascinati

Tiramisu

Breakfast and briefing at your B&B

9am – Visit to an organic wine cellar and vineyard for a tour followed by wine tasting

1pm – Light lunch at Visconti Kitchen 

Free time to enjoy as you wish

5pm – Cooking Class 7. Prepare a farewell dinner for your group and hosts at the Visconti Kitchen restaurant. There may be a surprise at the end but we won’t give anything away just yet

Breakfast at your B&B

Shuttle to L’Aquila and transfer to Rome airports. Those wishing to leave later may make prior arrangements to be taken to L’Aquila for the airport bus.