My favorite meal in Italy didn't come from an iconic restaurant. I made it in a cooking class in Florence.
But I never could have predicted that my favorite meal would come from a cooking class.
My experience with Pasta Class Florence featured three delicious pastas, including an unforgettable ragù tagliatelle, and tips and tricks for re-creating them at home.
Here's why it was the highlight of my trip to Florence.
I found Pasta Class Florence while browsing on Airbnb Experiences.
In addition to a 4.99-star rating and over 6,000 reviews, what drew me to Pasta Class Florence was the "About Me" description from its owner, Michele Gualtieri.
The Michelin-trained chef credited his grandmother with teaching him everything he knows and said he started the class in her kitchen back in 2018. His goal was to take others to the "magical world of pasta." What better world could there be?
After a quick Google search, my fiancé Peter realized we could book the three-hour class — which was 92 euros, or about $108, a person — through its website instead of Airbnb. We were happy to save a few dollars and pay the small company directly!
I was drawn to the fact that the class seemed to host smaller workshops than its competitors.
Only seven people, including Peter and me, attended the 10 a.m. class we took in June.
We all had plenty of space at the massive wooden table that was our workstation for the day. Each person stood behind a small mountain of flour with two eggs nestled in the center.
Before we began making pasta, our instructor, Simone Strazzulo, prepped the ragù.
Like Gualtieri, the founder of Pasta Class Florence, Strazzulo is a Michelin-trained chef. After working in London, Strazzulo — who began cooking in restaurants when he was 14 — wanted to return home.
He shared his story with us while chopping the veggies for our soffrito as the meat sizzled in a nearby pan. Once it had caramelized, Strazzulo added the soffrito, plus herbs, tomato paste, and red wine. The ragù needed to be cooked on low heat for at least two hours to develop flavor. By the time we were done making pasta, it would be ready.
It was time to make pasta!
We made a well in our pile of "00" flour and cracked each egg in the middle, using a fork to break up the yolks as we created our dough.
After kneading and rolling out our dough by hand, we made our first pasta shape.
Our first dish was tortelli, a stuffed pasta that's a bit larger in size than tortellini. Per Strazzulo's instructions, I carefully scooped small balls of my cheese mixture to dot across the blanket of dough.
As we worked, Strazzulo filled our glasses with a delicious Tuscan red. Did I mention this class included bottomless wine?
I was surprised by how easy it was to make the homemade pasta.
We also learned how to make homemade agnolotti and tagliatelle.
Strazzulo showed us how to fold our leftover dough and use a knife to cut the ribbons, which were revealed in appropriately dramatic fashion as we slid our knife underneath them. (This TikTok has a great visual demo of the technique.)
As Strazzulo worked on the pasta sauces, he gave us his top Florence recommendations.
Another thing I appreciated about the class was that we were sent an extensive list of recommendations for our Italy trip. It included everything you could want from Florence — restaurants, wine tours, cheese and sandwich shops, gelato, and cocktails, as well as additional tips for those traveling to Milan, Rome, or Bologna afterward.
The following night, we used the list to find a pizza spot and had a lovely dinner at Il Pizzaiuolo, which had one of the best gnocchi dishes I've ever tasted. The list also directed us to Locale, a chic and creative cocktail bar.
Our first dish was the tortelli, served with a sauce of brown butter and sage.
The sauce couldn't be easier. Strazzulo infused the butter with sage and garlic cloves, allowing it to melt and bubble until it browned. He cooked the tortelli in a separate pot, adding some pasta water to our brown-butter sauce.
This was when we learned a secret to Italian cuisine. Strazzulo finished cooking the pasta in the pan, allowing it to absorb more flavor and make the sauce even creamier. Once the pan was off the heat, he added a shower of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and allowed it to melt.
The result was a silky and comforting dish with warm notes from the nutty browned butter, plus a salty kick from all that cheese. Delicious.
Next up was the agnolotti.
What I loved about the sauce for this dish was the surprise of lime zest. Strazzulo first mixed some chopped garlic and chiles, which he cooked in a pan with olive oil and pepper. More pasta water went into the simple sauce, as did the agnolotti when it was time to finish cooking the noodles. Just before turning off the heat, Strazzulo added dill and grated the lime zest on top.
It was a bright, zingy, and unexpected dish that I loved. I've never considered adding lime zest to pasta, but now I can't wait to try it at home.
Our last pasta was the delicious tagliatelle ragù.
As with the previous two dishes, Strazzulo finished cooking our tagliatelle in the ragù sauce. The shower of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese arrived once it was off the heat.
Tagliatelle is my favorite pasta shape, and the homemade ribbons were the perfect vehicle for the rich ragù sauce filled with tender meat.
Peter and I spent two-and-a-half weeks in Europe, and this remained in our top three dishes of the entire trip. We walked out of Pasta Class Florence very happy, very stuffed, and very excited to try the recipes at home.
The most important lesson of the day, though, had nothing to do with pasta. Sometimes, the best meal is waiting in the most unexpected place.
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