Chef Patrizia’s Country Kitchen Umbria™

Tie on your aprons for hands-on cooking classes in Umbria with Chef Patrizia and her family, Signor Filippo and Giacomo in Assisi.  She opens her family cookbook and shares recipes dating back to the Etruscans – in Assisi cooking classes.  Using seasonal products from her garden, she’ll teach you how to prepare recipes from Umbria, while immersing you in the history of Italy’s Green Heart including her pasta making class.  During your stay meander through the garden and pick seasonal fruits and vegetables which are used in the cooking class.  Chef Patrizia advocates using simple ingredients and farm-to-table produce from her garden along with her family’s organic olive oil in her cooking classes Umbria.

A magical countryside location with a beautiful sitting room that welcomes guests and a garden overlooking Assisi, the property is just a few minutes from the main town of Assisi.  Enjoy your Umbrian hands-on cooking classes and scenic tours Italy!

Umbrian Cooking Classes in Perugia, Assisi, Spello & Montefalco

Under Chef Patrizia’s guidance, you’ll learn how to prepare Umbrian traditions – antipasto, fresh pasta, main courses, and desserts. On the menu is classic stringozzi pasta – a thick pasta served with wild asparagus, or mushrooms, or sausage.  Learn how to make umbrichelli in salsa di Trasimeno, pasta with perch fillets, shallots, garlic, and chilli pepper, and spaghetti col rancetto, ham, cherry tomatoes and fresh pecorino cheese.  You will learn how to mix and roll pasta into delicate sheets for lasagna.  You’ll make tagliatelle with fresh tomato and herbs or with shaved black or white truffles when in season.

Spending a day in the kitchen with Chef Patrizia is a food experience filled with passion and love. Her philosophy respects the traditions of the territory as she cooks in the rhythm of the seasons.

Learn how to prepare braised fennel, grilled pumpkin or stuffed eggplant.  Soups in Umbrian are a staple – such as faro and zucchini, beans or lentil soups.  Learn how to prepare pollo alla cacciatora, hunter’s chicken with vegetables or roasted pork, and braised apples.  Desserts are delicious using farm-fresh eggs to make the famous Assisi rocciata, a pastry strudel made in the shape of a spiral or brustengolo, a pastry prepared with farm-raised apples, raisins, pine nuts, lemon zest, olive oil and walnuts.  Enjoy your desserts with a Caffe Umbria, coffee and vanilla gelato!

A typical traditional menu includes pappardelle al ragù di salsicce e costarelle di maiale brado, wide Umbrian pasta with a sausage and pork sauce; roll’è di coniglio casereccio with Panzanella, tenderloins of rabbit rolled with herbs and served with a bread and tomato salad, and bignè fatto in casa alla crema, handmade profiteroles filled with cooked cream.

You will also learn the secrets of making homemade bread in the Umbrian tradition.  She Patrizia uses Old World technique for mixing and baking beautiful country bread.

Following each cooking class, guests enjoy the foods that were prepared in class with a toast of local wine and water included.

Umbria Accommodations

Check into the charming guest house in Assisi – a picturesque property surrounded by lush green gardens and flowering fields with a view overlooking Assisi.  The property also has a flower garden and farm that produces almost all of the ingredients for the cooking class.  Each guest room and cottage is elegantly decorated with Umbrian linens, comfortable bedding and private ensuite bathrooms. Bright wide windows swing open letting in the fresh Umbrian air.  The caffe bar serves a delicious Italian breakfast including Umbrian cakes and bread, fruit, eggs, cappuccino, espresso and tea.  The property has a Slow Food osteria and swimming pool and offers horseback riding along cypress-lined footpaths with medieval villages as the backdrop.  There is wifi on the property.

The Organic Farm

On the organic farm, the family produces high-quality extra virgin olive oil (a product of excellence awarded with numerous awards), honey, preserves and delicious jams.

The property also produces 80% of its ingredients on the nearby farm; including the meats and cheeses according to the Umbrian tradition along with the recipes of the master pork butcher Signor Lillo.  The vegetable garden is carefully cared for growing seasonal vegetables and greens; while the surrounding forest and countryside is brimming with mushrooms, asparagus, truffles, and wild herbs.

Slow Food Member

The property’s Osteria is part of the Slow Food Italian Taverns, and it shows every evening as a meeting place for like-minded foodies who are curious to learn and enjoy the tastes and traditions of the local cuisine with a glass of wine in a relaxing atmosphere.  Guests are welcomed into a convivial, characteristic, and hospitable atmosphere where traditional Umbrian cuisine is served.  Recipes handed down through the family and revisited with passion, character, and originality by the chef Patrizia.  Her philosophy is genuine zero-kilometer raw products and organic food products produced by small local producers. Dining together at their osteria with delicious food, family and the best wine, is the family motto.

Assisi and San Francesco, Perugia, Spello and Monetefalco, The Umbrian Travelers’ Dream

Assisi, Perugia, Spello and Montefalco conjure up images of Saint Francesco, Perugia chocolate and emerald green olive oil. Umbria is a land plentiful with verdant landscapes, peaceful Medieval villages and ancient art.  Perugia, Umbria’s capital, is known for its hazelnut-dipped chocolate Baci wrapped in silver paper with a poetic note inside. There’s also the international jazz festival, Deruta ceramics and tesuti Montefalco, handmade linens.

Assisi

Step back into time when you stroll through Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order and one of the most popular saints in history.  The 13^th-century Basilica di San Francesco is adorned with frescos painted by a young Giotto where he depicts the life of Saint Francis. You may also visit Saint Francis in the crypt, or meander through its outside areas and inside halls. Assisi is also home to Rocca Maggiore, a medieval fortress, and the Basilica di Santa Chiara.

Perugia

Take the day to explore Perugia, the capital of Umbria is a town known around the world, which still holds on to its ancient past. It is home to the 14^th-century University of Perugia, one of Italy’s oldest and most well-respected educational institutions, a weave of ancient architecture and caffès that bustle with life morning till night. The town’s Piazza IV Novembre is surrounded by splendid ancient buildings and and monuments.  Landmarks include the Fontana Maggiore, a medieval fountain that was built in the 12^th century by sculptors Nicola Pisano and Giovanni Pisano, the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria brimming with local art, and the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, Perugia’s Gothic cathedral. There are endless bars, caffès and trattorias where you can take a front row seat on the terrace, order an aperitivo, Prosecco, spritz or vino bianco, and watch the world go by.

Spello

Spello is a charming medieval town known for its sand-colored stone houses framed by flower boxes filled with flowers. A competition called, infiorata, an long tradition of where residents compete for the most beautiful flower display throughout the summer months.  Cobblestone footpaths where no cars are allowed weave through this ancient picturesque town.  There are trattorias, gelato shops, wine bars and artisan shops selling Deruta ceramics and olive oil making Spello an interesting stop for every food lover.  Landmarks include the Cappella Tega, a small chapel with frescoes from the XIV century and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore, dating back to the 1200s and famous for the  masterpieces by Pinturicchio, Perugino.  Spello has ancient walls:  the Augustan gates (Porta Urbica, Porta Consolare and Porta Venere); the remains of the amphitheatre and spa, and the Villa of Mosaics. There’s the church of Santa Maria Maggiore with the Baglioni Chapel, admirably frescoed by Pinturicchio, the church of Sant’Andrea from the 13th century and the Church of San Lorenzo. Just outside the town’s walls visit the theArch of Augustus, the Subasio theatre and the Vallegloria monastery, in Contrada Prato, Set on Mount Subasio, Spello offers a panoramic viewpoint overlooking Umbrian green hills, olive orchards and fields of faro, once ruled by the Romans.

Monetefalco

Montefalco, just a few kilometers to the north, is another pleasant village that deserves a visit.  It produces some of Italy’s most beautiful table linens from tea towels to impressive damask tablecloths, Montefalco’s distinctive linens are embossed with pretty bees, olives and fruits and come in a variety of colors. In Montefalco, you can also chose to visit the renowned wine producer, Cantina Antonelli, where you can sample the delicious local DOCG Sagrantino wine.

Between your cooking classes, excursions and visits to the farm, garden and olive orchard, you’ll be immersed into an authentic cooking and discovering experience.  The property is close to Spello and Todi. The property is close to Spello and Todi.  Beautiful green landscapes lace tours to Assisi to Perugia and Terni cooking classes for an incredible stay.

Check in, relax and sip a glass of wine while overlooking Assisi!

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Itinerary~ 7 Days, 6 Nights

*Note: This schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saint days or festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the program.