Tuscany Slow Cooking™

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Join Signor Rodolfo, Signora Lucia and Chef Luciana at Villa Florentine for a fun-filled week of cooking and touring in our Kids & Family Cooking Week Tuscany.

Kids will love the big green gardens and spacious fields at the villa, which is set in the heart of the Tuscan countryside and just minutes from Florence. The entire family will be cooking up pizza, pasta and gelato with Chef Luciana. Her kind, energetic personality will bring out the best in young guests, and she’ll soon have them rolling out pasta and pizza dough, and creating delicious Tuscan desserts in hands-on cooking tour designed specially for families and children. This is a great opportunity for youngsters to create simple dishes from scratch and learn first hand about the value of locally-grown organic produce. At Villa Florentine, the entire family will enjoy cooking and eating together in true Tuscan style in a villa that was built in 1470.

Set among tall cypresses that line a Tuscan country road, and rose gardens and pomegranate trees that surround the property, the Villa Florentine is an extraordinary place for your hands-on cooking tour. Learn the traditions of Florentine cuisine from century-old recipes with our Chef. Wake up and walk to the kitchen while relaxing in a dream-like place of beauty. Your cooking classes take place in a working kitchen that includes an equipped working area and wood-burning bread & pizza oven. During you cooking tour, you will make traditional Tuscan favorites including antipasto, hand-made fresh pasta, delicious main courses, wood-burning brick oven pizza and delicious desserts, to be enjoyed along with Signor Rodolfo’s award wining wine for the adults. After your cooking class, everyone enjoys the foods that were prepared in class around the table.

Join Chef Luciana & Signora Lucia for Kids’ Cooking Tuscany

~ Kids Under 10 Half Price***

In the kitchen, kids will roll up their sleeves and learn and participate hands-on mixing pasta dough, rolling it out, cutting it into shapes and cooking delicious pasta sauces. And what could be more fun than kneading and spreading out your very own pizza dough and choosing your favorite topping, such as artisan fresh cheese, garden eggplant, cherry tomatoes, olives and basil before popping your pizza into the authentic wood-burning oven.  And when it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, adults can sit back with a glass of the Villa’s award winning wine, while children can choose from a selection of soft drinks.

When you are not in the kitchen, walk through property’s vineyards, olive groves and beautiful gardens. In summer, take a swim in the outdoor swimming pool with a view that overlooks the Certosa Monastery or you can walk into the small town with its colorful outside market.

Tuscany Accommodations

Signor Rodolfo & Signora Lucia, along with the Villa’s professional staff, are on site to assist with any of your questions.

The Villa, whose original structure was built around a medieval tower, is home to large guest rooms that are furnished with Florentine antiques and original masterpieces that tell the story of its romantic past. Florentine cotto tiles lines the floors, wide windows sweep open onto rolling vineyards and olive trees, and pastel frescoes decorate the walls. Private ensuite bathrooms with hair dryers, plush bathrobes & slippers, and air-conditioning accent each room. There is daily maid service and breakfast included.

Walk the grounds, visit the amphitheater or relax by the outdoor swimming pool, complete with deckchairs and towel services. The swimming pool is open from April 1 to October 31.  ***Kids ten years old and under are half price when accompanied by two adults.

Click for Property Photo Gallery

Cooking Classes
Pizza, Pasta & Gelato

You and your children will experience the delights of Chef Luciana’s hands-on cooking classes in traditional and simple flavors of Florentine cuisine. Vegetables, fish and especially meat play a major role in Tuscan cuisine, complimented by the property’s organic wine (soft drinks for children) and extra virgin olive oil. Seasonal ingredients such as white beans, asparagus, truffles, mushrooms, tomatoes, spelt, artichokes, and Florentine steaks are a few of the things you will be cooking in the kitchen.

You will roll out Tagliatelle! You will sauté delicious porcini mushrooms and pepolino, cook with wild thyme and artichokes, stuff tomatoes with herbs and cheese and create the most stunning sauces. Learn to make Ravioli Nudi, typical fresh Tuscan pasta in a light seasonal sauces, and Pici or Pappardelle to name a few. Start with Fettunta, an appetizing Tuscan garlic bread; for primos there are Penne Strascicate ~ Penne with meat ragù; and Peposo All’Imprunetina ~ beef stew, slow cooked, as well as seafood or vegetable risottos. And of course, learn how to make delicous Italian pizza and gelato – classes the kids will love.

Make sure to leave room for dessert, because Chef Luciana’s creations are delightful and delicious. Traditions include cantuccini, Tuscan almond cookies, tiramisù, schiacciata con l’uva, Tuscan cake made with red grapes and rosemary and biscotti di vino to be eaten while sipping Vin Santo.  Recipes vary depending on the seasons and special menu requests respecting food allergies and diet restrictions are always available.

Itinerary: 8 Days, 7 Nights

Day 1: Arrival & Welcome

• Transfer from Florence Airport or Train Station to the Villa.
• Relax, check in and meet your hosts. Kids have a chance to explore the Villa’s wonderful gardens, or play a game of hide and seek.
• The evening is free and dinner is on your own.

Day 2: Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Next, head into the kitchen with Chef Luciana for your hands-on Cooking Class 1 – Hand-Made Pasta. Your first class will teach you all the secrets of creating the perfect hand-made pasta. Everyone will have a ball rolling, kneading and stretching their dough into pici pasta and stuffing pockets of pasta with delicious fillings to make ravioli or torteloni. You’ll also learn how to make wonderful slow-cooked tomato-based sauces as well as seasonal vegetable sauces. And of course, every meal ends with a sweet Tuscan dessert. Menus vary and include the best fresh seasonal ingredients and can be tailored made to accommodate vegetarian, food allergies and other diet requirements.
• Lunch follows and includes the foods that were prepared in class. Wine pairings from the property included and soft drinks for the kids.
• Afternoon is free and on your own. Suggestion: rent bicycles from the property and set off for a ride through the Tuscan Countryside. The gentle slopes allow for a pleasant ride for all levels and bring your camera for incredible photo-taking opportunities along the way.
• Return to the Villa in the later afternoon.
• Dinner on your own. Suggestions provided upon request, or reserve in advance for dinner at the Villa.

Day 3: Classic Tuscan Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Cooking Class 2 – Classic Tuscan Menu. Start with an antipasto such as Tuscan canapè, then a first course of fresh pasta served Florentine ricotta and spinach in red pepper sauce. Prepare a second course based on the season such as Tuscan chicken, Florentine beef or vegetarian if you like.
• End with a sweet dessert such as Florentine biscotti, the famous cantucci, which can be eaten alone or dipped in Vin Santo. Menus vary and use the freshest seasonal ingredients and can be tailored to accommodate vegetarian, food allergies and other diet requirements.
• Lunch follows and includes the foods that were prepared in class, paired with wines from the Villa (soft drinks for the children).
• The afternoon is free to relax, enjoy a swim in the pool, or explore your surroundings.
• Dinner on your own. Reserve in advance at the Villa or suggestions provided upon request.

Day 4: Florence Walking Tour With Food & Gelato Tasting

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, your driver will pick you up for a full Florence Walking Tour With Food & Gelato Tastings. Start your day with a transfer to downtown Florence to meet your private English-speaking guide. This half-day walking tour takes you into Florence’s world-famous museums such as the Uffizi with works by DaVinci, Caravaggio, Botticelli; or the Accademia with its prized Michelangelo’s David. Your guide brings art to life with historic notes, myths and mysteries surrounding Florence’s incredible art collections. (Museum tickets not included in program price and payable directly to your guide on the day.) Take time out for lunch on your own in Florence, suggestions provided upon request, and some time for shopping in the renowned leather market of San Lorenzo or the glittering Ponte Vecchio. After which, head off for a delicious gelato tasting at an artisan gelateria.
• Dinner on your own. Reserve in advance at the Villa or suggestions provided upon request.

Day 5: Cooking Class 3 & Pizza Party

• Breakfast is served.
• Morning free to relax or do some exploring. Lunch on your own.
• Afternoon – return to the kitchen for Cooking Class 3 – Pizza Making. Great fun this afternoon as kids and adults get busy kneading, rolling and tossing their pizza dough, then choosing their favorite toppings. Just a few minutes in the wood burning brick oven and out come toasty, crisp pizzas that will disappear in seconds. We think you’ll agree that nothing tastes more delicious than a pizza straight from a wood-burning oven!
• Pizza Party follows and includes the foods prepared in class, paired with soft drinks & wines from the Villa (soft drinks for the children).

Day 6: Cooking Class 4

• Breakfast is served.
• Return to the kitchen for Cooking Class 4 – Gelato Making. Kids and adults alike roll up their sleeves and get ready to create creamy gelato, sorbets and semi freddo ice creams with Chef Luciana. Kids learn how to make cream based Italian gelato, fruit based sorbets and toppings to garnish.
• Lunch follows on the foods prepared in class, paired with soft drinks & wines from the Villa.
• The afternoon is free to relax, enjoy a swim in the pool, or explore your surrounding.
• Dinner on your own. Reserve in advance at the Villa or suggestions provided upon request.

Day 7: Free Day

• Breakfast is served.
• Free Day. Suggestion: Visit the Monastery of Certosa: dating from 1342, this monastery still seems to watch over the city of Florence and the surrounding hills, and the Church of San Lorenzo, or add on Pisa if you would like to visit the Leaning Tour.  You may also take your last day to sit back and relax by the Villa’s gorgeous swimming pool.
• Dinner on your own. Reserve in advance at the Villa or suggestions provided upon request.

Day 8: Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Check out and departure transfer to Florence Airport or Train Station.
• Arrivederci Firenze!

*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 week.