Rolling Up Our Sleeves

Coming home from a holiday in Umbria and announcing “next time we have people over, I’ll make the fresh pasta myself” is the easy part. Keeping the promise, usually, is not. The weeks pick up their old rhythm, the rolling pin stays at the back of the drawer, and that bold idea melts away like a forgotten spoonful of mascarpone left out of the fridge.

Our cookery workshop in Umbria starts from exactly there: we show you how to make properly good fresh pasta using the equipment you have — or can easily get — in a home kitchen. Stand mixer, electric or manual pasta roller, and the chitarra for tagliolini. Real tools, the sort that let you put fresh pasta on the table on a Wednesday evening after work, without writing off the whole afternoon.

In the Kitchen with Elena

The workshop is led by Elena. She can feel the dough before she’s even looked at it properly — that half-craft, half-instinct thing that recipe books cannot quite explain. The same goes for the vegetables: what walks into the kitchen depends on what the garden has on offer that morning, not on a shopping list written the night before.

The workshop runs in Italian or English (Elena is fluent in both) and in a small group: maximum four guests. It’s a choice, not a constraint — we want people to have proper space to try, get it wrong and try again, rather than queueing behind someone else.

What We Will Cook (and What You Will Make Again at Home)

Three hours of practical work, from starter to pudding. No theory demonstrations: everything that leaves the kitchen, you have made.

• Starter — Crostini with lentil cream and rosemary. The lentils from Castelluccio are practically our neighbours; it would be rude not to use them. A starter that comes in handy on a Thursday-night dinner at home, too.
• Fresh egg pasta — tagliolini and tagliatelle. This is where the “technology” comes in. Stand mixer for the dough, electric pasta roller (or manual, which costs a fraction) for the sheet. We explain why the machine is not a compromise next to the rolling pin: it is, simply, the way to put fresh pasta on the table on an ordinary weekday.
• Tagliolini alla chitarra. Same ingredients, different tool, unmistakable cut. A small tribute to a traditional technique that is worth keeping alive — the chitarra is a wire-strung wooden frame, and it is rather satisfying to use.
• Stuffed pasta with seasonal vegetables. The filling changes with the garden: it might be chard, Umbrian pecorino and ricotta, or potatoes, pecorino and pesto, or nettles and ricotta. Same technique, different flavour every time.
• Vegetarian main from the garden. Built on the spot around whatever Elena has picked that morning. We cannot tell you in advance what it will be, because we do not know either: that is rather the point.
• Tiramisù with fresh seasonal fruit. Eggs, mascarpone, whatever fruit is at its best that week. A version of the classic that works even in July.

What You Take Home

Two things, one tangible and one useful.

The apron with the farm logo, which doubles as a small keepsake of the day. And the workshop recipe book in PDF, which we email a few days later — so the recipes are written down properly, and you don’t have to message Elena on WhatsApp every time you want to make the tagliolini again.

Practical Details

• Time: from 10:00 to 13:00. Meet at the restaurant ten minutes before.
• Lunch: at 13:00 we sit down and eat what we have cooked. Still water, local wine, coffee and a house digestif — all included.
• Price: €110 per person.
• Group size: maximum four guests.
• Age: the workshop is designed for adults. Teenagers from 14 upwards are welcome.
• When: any day the farm is open, on booking at least the day before. Open to staying guests and to day visitors alike.
• Dress code: comfortable shoes (you will be on your feet) and long hair tied back. We provide the apron.