Meet the Ricotta, Then Fill the Ravioli

The class opens at the ingredients table rather than at the flour, which tells you something about how it is taught. Fresh ricotta, aged Parmigiano, San Marzano tomatoes: what they are, where they come from, and why substituting any of them changes the dish rather than just the price.

Then three hours of hands-on work on Via delle Zite. You make the dough, learn to feel when it has been kneaded enough, and take it in two directions. Half becomes fettuccine, cut and tossed with a cream sauce the class calls Alfredo. Half is rolled thin for ravioli, filled with the ricotta you were introduced at the start, and sealed by hand, which everyone underestimates until the first one leaks.

The San Marzano sauce goes on the ravioli. Its reputation is not marketing: the variety grows in volcanic soil on the Vesuvius plain, and it is less acidic and less watery than most plum tomatoes, which is why Neapolitan cooks reduce it so little.

Tiramisù gets assembled at the end, and then you eat everything you made, with unlimited water and a soft drink, wine or beer. The chef talks through the local versions and the arguments about them while you eat.

Recipes come as a QR code, and there is a diploma with your name on it, plus the hat and apron. Up to thirty travellers per session, taught in English, Italian, French or Spanish.