Tie on your aprons for hands-on cooking 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
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.
Wining and dining together at Osteria with delicious food, family and the best wines is the family motto.
Assisi, Perugia & Saint Francesco, The Umbrian Travelers’ Dream
Assisi, Perugia and Assisi conjure up images of Saint Francesco, Perugia chocolate and emerald green olive oil. Umbria is a land brimming 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.
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
Day 1: Arrival and Cooking Class 1
- Arrival and check-in.
- Welcome and meet your hosts.
- Enjoy your Prosecco and Cooking Vacations welcome bag.
- Cooking Class – Tie on your aprons for your hands-on cooking class preparing a full-course Umbrian menu. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.
Day 2: Excursion to Perugia & Deruta & Cooking Class 2
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, join your driver and English-speaking guide for a full-day tour to Perugia. Then continue to and Deruta.
- Discover Perugia, a dazzling city in the heart of Umbria and home to the famous Italian chocolate and capital of Umbria – with our English-speaking guide. Set on a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area, you will discover its museums, artisan food shops and history all in one. Perugia is famous for painter Pietro Vannucci, who decorated the local Sala del Cambio with frescos. From sipping a cappuccino to walking the city, Perugia has something for everyone.
- The tour also includes a visit to Deruta, the beautiful Umbrian town known for its handmade ceramic.
- Following the tour, return to the property for cooking class.
- Cooking Class – Tie on your aprons for your hands-on cooking class preparing a full-course Umbrian menu. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.
Day 3: Excursion to Assisi, Ermeno della Carcers and S. Maria Angeli, and Cooking Class 3
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, join your driver and English-speaking guide for a visit to Assisi.
- Discover Assisi – famous for San Francesco, the patron saint of animals and the patron saint of Italy. Visit the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, a World Heritage Site, with its ancient fresco work by Cimabue and Giotto, including the series of 28 frescoes ascribed to the young Giotto along the lower part of the nave, now freshly restored after the tragic earthquake damage of 1997. Stroll its cobblestone streets, and enjoy a cappuccino or gelato while you explore this beautiful town of Saint Francis. Visit Eremo delle Carceri, S. Maria Angeli.
- Take time out for lunch on your own.
- Following the tour, return to the property.
- Tie on your aprons for your hands-on cooking class preparing a full-course Umbrian menu. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.
Relax and enjoy the property.
Day 4: Food Lover’s Walk Trevi & Cooking Class 4
- Breakfast is served.
- Join our English-speaking guide for a Food Lovers’ Walking Tour of Trevi. Discover this charming town set in the heart of Umbria with wine bars, trattorias, and artisan shops.
- Following the tour, enjoy Trevi on your own for shopping, or visit any of the landmarks and museums. Museum tickets, if any guest opts to visit, are not included.
- Take time out for lunch on your own.
- Following the tour, return to the property.
- Cooking Class – Tie on your aprons for your hands-on cooking class preparing a full-course Umbrian menu. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.
Day 5: Excursions to Montefalco with Wine Tour and Tasting and Bevagna, and Umbrian Dinner
- Breakfast is served.
- After breakfast, join your driver and English-speaking guide for a visit to Umbra Valle with your driver and English-speaking guide.
- Discover Bevagna and Montefalco. Montefalco is a delightful Medieval town and is often referred to as ‘the little balcony of Italy’ thanks to the magnificent views it offers over the surrounding countryside. The area is well-known for its wine and olive oil. Montefalco is laced with narrow streets of the historic center and Medieval churches. Marvel over the fact that this town is famous for its eight saints!
- A wine tour and tasting in Montefalco with tastings and tour included.
- Discover Bevagna, known for the legendary story of Saint Francis and the birds. In the fields of Bevagna Saint Francis preached to the birds, and the stone from which he stood on is in the Ciccoli Chapel of the Church of San Francesco.
- Following the tour, return to the property for a full course Umbrian dinner.
Day 6: Free Day & Farewell Umbrian Dinner with Wine
- Breakfast is served.
- Relax at the property, walk the gardens, forage through the farm and enjoy the view overlooking Assisi.
- Lunch on your own.
- Farewell Umbrian Dinner featuring a Chef’s Tasting menu with a toast of wine included.
Day 7: Breakfast & Departure
- Breakfast is served.
- Check-out and departure. Ciao – until the next time.
- Transfer to Assisi Train Station.
*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.
Program Includes:
- 7 days, 6 nights in a classic room with a private ensuite bath based on 2 guests.
- Daily breakfast and maid service.
- 4 cooking classes preparing authentic Umbrian fare. Following the cooking class, everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the class with a toast of local wine.
- Excursion to Bevanga and Montefalco visiting an artisan producer of organic wine with an English-speaking driver and guide.
- Excursion to Perugia and Deruta with an English-speaking driver and guide.
- Excursion to Assisi with with English-speaking driver and guide.
- Excursion to Trevi. Food Lovers’ Walking Tour of Trevi with English-speaking guide, 2 hours.
- Farewell Umbrian Dinner including a Chef’s Tasting four-course menu with wine included.
- Cooking Vacations Welcome Bag with chef’s apron, recipe book, and Prosecco toast.
- Round trip transfers from the Assisi train station.
Program Prices
$3,595 per person, based on 2 guests.
For Single Guests: If you are traveling on your own, please call us for the best group price. We are happy to welcome you into an already scheduled group.
2023 Dates: This program is available throughout the year. You can check in and start your cooking program Sunday or Thursday. Rates are subject to change based on currency exchange. Call for updated rates. Airfare not included. Group transfers for any cooking tour or tours that include transfers, are for the group and are not private. Transfers before, after or to another destination outside of your cooking tour are not included in the program price. If you would like to add on a private transfer or transfers, let us know and we will send you pricing.
