Tie on your aprons and join Chef Maria in our Mare e Monti ~ Mountains & Sea Amalfi Coast cooking class program and immerse yourself in an Italian culinary adventure! Learn to make traditional lasagne, ravioli, fresh fish, and delightful desserts guided by our Italian Mamma Maria in a warm, family setting. Explore the rich flavors of the Amalfi Coast while enjoying hands-on cooking classes, wine tastings, and a delightful Food Lover’s Tour. Prepare delicious full course lunches and dinners while you meet new friends and immerse into la dolce vita lifestyle with Chef Maria and her family on the Amalfi Coast.
As featured in 
August 2017 – Click here to read more!
Join Chef Maria for farm-to-table cooking classes on the Amalfi Coast! Using fresh fruits and vegetables from her garden, During your stay, Shop with the Chef in the local village and learn about artisan mozzarella, salumi, bread, and limoncello with tastings along the way.
After shopping, tie on your apron and head to the kitchen to start your cooking adventure. Begin with antipasto, followed by fresh pasta and sauce, a main course, and dessert. Experience the freshest seafood, including clams and shrimp, along with grass-fed meat and free-range chicken. Prepare Maria’s special recipes for zeppole a lemon and walnut cake, using nuts from her garden.
Visit Maria’s husband Umberto’s organic vegetable garden, where you’ll find zucchini, fava beans, peas, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, chili peppers, basil, and parsley. Pick fresh vegetables and fruits for your cooking class. The family also grows grapes in their vineyard and makes homemade wine.
Discover the authentic taste of the Amalfi Coast with Chef Maria’s farm-to-table cooking experience.
Amalfi Coast Accommodation
Check into the luxurious Villa Palazzo and unwind with breathtaking sea views from every bedroom terrace or balcony. Each spacious room features cool terracotta tiles, a private bathroom with a shower and hairdryer, WiFi, and a TV for your convenience. Start your day with a delicious breakfast, including coffee, teas, fresh fruit, yogurt, bread, Maria’s homemade cakes, farm-fresh eggs, and jams. Enjoy your breakfast outdoors in the beautiful garden, surrounded by chestnut and fig trees, jasmine, and lavender. The air is filled with the delightful scents of Maria’s herb garden, where rosemary, mint, and basil grow abundantly.
Click for Property Photo Gallery
Agerola
Known as Piccola Svizzera, Little Switzerland, and Grande Terrazza sul Mare, the Great Terrace Overlooking the Sea, the small town of Agerola is nestled between the Lattari Mountains above the Amalfi Coast. Approximately 600 meters above sea level, Agerola offers lush green hills and stunning views of the Amalfi Coast.
A haven for nature lovers, Agerola is famous for its Walk of the Gods hiking path. This trail offers breathtaking views where the sea meets the sky, with terraces lined with lemon groves. Enjoy the tranquility of the pathways, often accompanied by herds of goats or donkeys carrying supplies.
An easy drive to Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, Vietri, Praiano, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, and Naples, Agerola serves as a perfect base for exploring nearby attractions.
Amalfi Coast Cooking Classes
Join our Italian Mamma, Chef Maria, in the kitchen for an unforgettable cooking experience. Prepare full menus starting with antipasto, followed by fresh pasta with seasonal sauces, a main course, and dessert. Using only farm-to-table ingredients, Chef Maria guides you through each hands-on cooking class using her cherished family recipes. After each cooking class, savor the delicious dishes you created, paired with local white or red wine. Enjoy an authentic Italian culinary adventure with Chef Maria, where you’ll learn to cook and enjoy traditional meals in a warm, family setting.
Itinerary 8 days, 7 nights
Day 1: Benvenuto and Welcome Dinner
- Pick-up and transfer to property.
- Arrival & check-in. Refresh and relax on your private terrace with an aperitivo. Read over the contents of your welcome bag with our chef’s apron and Prosecco.
- Later in the evening, enjoy your Welcome Dinner including a Chef’s Tasting Dinner featuring local fare with local wine and caffe included.
Day 2: Explore Pompeii and Amalfi Cooking Class 1
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, meet your driver for an excursion to Pompeii. Walk along the path and learn how Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, only to be rediscovered in 1748. Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where every facet of ancient Roman life is revealed – the style of their houses, recreational habits, the city’s art and culture. Mosaics, frescoes, terracotta amphora, and casts of townspeople and animals caught in the eruption all make for an absolutely fascinating visit.
- Following your visit, return to Agerola.
- In the afternoon, join Chef Maria in the kitchen for your first hands-on cooking. Prepare traditional mare e monti, sea and land, antipasti, Neapolitan lasagne, caponata, a delicious bread and mozzarella salad and homemade babà with limoncello.
- Dinner follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with red or white wine and caffe included.
Day 3: Visit to Artisan Mozzarella Producer & Amalfi Cooking Class 2
- Breakfast is served.
- After breakfast, enjoy a visit to an artisan mozzarella maker. Discover fior di latte and other artisan cheese with tastings included.
- Lunch is on your own with suggestions provided
- In the afternoon, join Chef Maria for your second hands-on cooking class. Learn to prepare zeppole agerolesi, paccheri pasta with eggplant and provolone del monaco. Learn how to prepare chicken with Amalfi Coast lemon and potatoes. For dessert, mix and bake torta di noci, a delicate walnut cake made with nuts from her garden. Dinner follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with local white or red wine and caffe included.
Day 4: Walk of the Gods and Amalfi, and Cooking Class 3
- Breakfast is served.
- Morning is free to explore Agerola. Discover the viewpoints and breathtaking panoramas over the Amalfi Coast overlooking Amalfi and Praiano. For the more adventurous, trek through the Path of the Gods. Leaving from Bomerano in Agerola, this trek leads you through some of Italy’s most stunning countryside, along paths and trails cut into the dramatic Amalfi landscape high above the Mediterranean. Remember to bring your camera, water, a hat and sunscreen, and wear comfortable walking or trekking shoes.
- In the afternoon, join Chef Maria in the kitchen for your third cooking class. Depending on the garden selection, you will make linguine with porcini mushrooms, veal scaloppine cooked in white wine and stuffed vegetables. Maria shares her recipe and technique for making her famous Amalfi Coast lemon cake.
- Dinner follows and everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with white or red wine and caffe included.
Day 5: Wine Tour, Tasting and Amalfi Cooking Class 4
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, meet your driver and visit an award-winning vineyard and winery. Visit the vineyard and cantina, and learn about the process and bottling. Tastings included.
- Following the tour, take time out for lunch on your own with suggestions provided.
- In the afternoon, join Chef Maria for your fourth cooking class. Mix and mold gnocchi alla sorrentina – with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Prepare a farm-raised pork loin in white wine. Following the main courses, prepare the traditional ricotta and pear tart.
- Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with white or red wine and caffe included.
Day 6: Ceramic Visit and Amalfi Cooking class 5
- Breakfast is served.
- Following breakfast, visit an artisan ceramic maker who creates beautiful hand-painted plates, soup bowls, vases, platters and more. Learn about the history of Amalfi Coast ceramics and shop too.
- Following the tour, take time out for lunch on your own with suggestions provided.
- In the afternoon, join Chef Maria for your fifth cooking lesson. You will learn to make cannelloni, stuffed pasta with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, rabbit or chicken baked in lemon leaves and served with grilled vegetables, and torta Caprese.
- Dinner follows everyone enjoys the food that was prepared in the cooking class with white or red wine and caffe included.
Day 7: Free Day – Relax
- Breakfast is served.
- Today, is a free day to relax, sit by the pool, head to the beach or discover the Amalfi Coast on your own. From the property, you can take a bus or taxi and visit Amalfi or Positano.
Day 8: Arrivederci
- Breakfast is served.
- Check out and arrivederci!
Program Includes:
- 7 nights, 8 days accommodations in a villa palazzo property. Click to View!
- Daily breakfast and maid service.
- Welcome Dinner featuring a Chef’s Tasting with a full course menu of local fare including antipasto, fresh pasta, main course and dessert with wine and caffe included.
- 5 Amalfi Coast Hands-on Cooking classes preparing antipasto, fresh pasta, main course and dessert with wine and caffe included; followed by lunch or dinner and including the food that was prepared in the cooking class with white or red wine, water, dessert and coffee included.
- Excursion to artisan mozzarella maker with English-speaking guide and tastings included.
- Excursion to an artisan limoncello maker with with English-speaking guide and tastings included.
- Excursion to an artisan ceramic maker with English-speaking guide.
- Excursion to Pompeii with driver. English-speaking tour guide and entrance tickets are not included and must be purchased online by guest.
- Excursion to a wine maker’s vineyard and cantina with tour and wine tasting included. Driver included.
- Cooking Vacations’ Welcome Bag with Chef’s apron, recipe booklet and Prosecco.
- Round trip transfers to and from Naples Airport or Train Station to the property.
- A copy of Lauren’s cookbook, “It’s A Dream Place – Stories & Recipes of Food, Love and the Amalfi Coast.”
Program Prices
$3,995 per person, based on 2 guests.
2024 Dates: You can check in and start your cooking program any day of the week. 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.
