Cooking class with family and in the garden of an old boathouse

About this tour

Learn to cook regional pasta from scratch in the restored garden of a centuries-old Salento boathouse. This three-hour class walks you through making fresh dough, then dressing it two ways: with tomato and basil, and with the local chickpea-and-fried-pasta dish ciceri e tria. You'll cook alongside the instructor, share what you've made for dinner, and finish with house-made gelato and limoncello. Traditional pizzica music and folk instruments add to the evening.

Highlights

• Hands-on pasta-making in a 4-vaulted stone boathouse garden
• Two sauces: fresh tomato-basil and ciceri e tria chickpeas
• Local Salento wines with opening aperitivo
• Live pizzica music and optional folk-instrument participation
• Homemade gelato and house limoncello to finish
• Eat the pasta you've made for your meal

What to expect

You'll arrive at a converted boathouse—a sturdy stone structure with barrel vaults that once stored grain and livestock. The host gives a brief tour before settling everyone into the garden with local cheeses, cured meats, and wine. Then it's apron-on time: you'll knead dough, shape pasta, and prepare both a bright tomato sauce and a heartier chickpea sauce with fried pasta pieces. Expect flour on your clothes and genuine instruction, not performance. As the sun sets, you'll plate up your work and eat together. If the mood takes you, grab a tambourine or violin guitar to join in the stornello folk singing.

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