Making Pasta in Bologna, Italy

I take a lot of cooking classes when I travel. Because I’m slightly obsessed with food and eat out a lot, I feel like it’s practically mandatory that I also learn how to cook some of the things that I love. Luckily, I’ve managed to get Marko into it too. So when his family visited us in Italy this summer, HE was the one who signed us up for a cooking class in Bologna!

(Oh, and then he went to Japan with his “mates” and booked a food tour and a cooking class WITHOUT ME. But I digress.)

Read More: A Cooking Class in Oaxaca, Mexico or Chiang Mai, Thailand

Well, to be clear, in Bologna, we found a pasta-making class on Airbnb Experiences. If you haven’t looked into these experiences yet, get on it – you can get great deals on fun activities with locals versus a higher-priced, more established tour company. (And so far, we’re two outta two on awesome local experiences. But of course, always read the reviews!)

While Marko and I had already taken an Italian cooking class in Tuscany – at an amazing agriturismo in Chianti with all my friends for our 30th birthdays! – but Italy’s cuisine is super varied. So really, you could learn to cook in all of its regions and never get bored. For example…

We spent a few days in Tuscany eating more rustic meals, meats, and simple pasta sauces. We lived in Naples for a month, eating olive oil-y pastas with fresh seafood, the best chewy, wood-fired pizzas in the world, and fried doughy things from the street. Then we went up to the north to Cortina where we had hearty, Austrian-Italian-esque foods like venison ragu and creamy spaetzle with speck and on to Lake Como where we ate more fresh seafood, steak tartare, and these delicious little buckwheat fritters. 

Yeah, I spent a long time in Italy this year…

It was fantastic. And delicious. Way too delicious. I have no regrets.

Bologna though…

Bologna is my favorite city in Italy. And I’ll say it, one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s approachable, walkable, and always buzzing with young people, university life, and outdoor activities – whether that’s a busy market, aperitivo hour, city park around 5 PM, or a bunch of folks boozing on the streets in front of live music, people are always around! It’s truly one of the best cities at dishing out FOMO, particularly if you have to sit inside and work (or diet).

But really, Bologna is becoming more and more popular with tourists for one reason: the food.

After our too-short visit last year, we spent a few weeks in Bologna in the middle of June pretending that we lived there and it was fantastic. The only problem with this picturesque burnt orange and red-hued city is that it’s basically impossible to force yourself to cook, eat salads, and NOT go out for drinks on the sidewalk before stumbling into some tiny, beautiful osteria for a fantastic plate (or three) of food from the Emilia-Romagna region. Yeah, good luck avoiding that tagliatelle al ragu!

On the upside, if you can force yourself to cook, shopping at the local markets here is fantastic. You can always grab some fresh pasta, guanciale, proscuitto, local cheeses, fresh vegetables, and fun things to experiment with.

Or you can take a cooking class in Bologna and learn how to make your own homemade pasta…

A Bologna Cooking Class – Pasta Making with Grazia!

When Marko’s family came, we all stayed in a lovely apartment inside the old city walls of Bologna. Our pasta-making expert, Grazia, lived a little farther out, but it was still an easy walk to reach her. She buzzed us into her sunlit apartment, and we took our places at our individual stations she’d set up in the living room. Each of us got our own apron, cutting board, rolling pin, and scraper to make our own pasta dough.

Quick side note: There are a lot of issues with Airbnb – all of the gentrification problems and rent-hiking and pushing of locals out of the city center – but Grazia is the epitome of why Airbnb is also amazing. Born in Bologna, she is a gracious host in every sense of the word. Not only has she led over a hundred of these cooking experiences inside her home, but she also rents out one of her rooms as well. Literally, she must be constantly opening her door to strangers who want to learn more about her hometown.

We came with our own bottle of prosecco – I’m a fan of being prepared – but she was way ahead of us. I’m not gonna give away the details of the class or try to explain to you how to make pasta if you don’t already know, but she was a great teacher. After learning a few of the pasta-making steps, we had to let our dough rest. So during that break, we learned about a few of Emilia-Romagna’s most desirable local products. Grazia popped a bottle of Lambrusco (that underrated fizzy red) and we tasted her homemade mortadella mouse, some balsamic vinegar from nearby Modena, and Parmigiano cheese. 

Back at our pasta-making stations, we practiced manually and mechanically making tagliatelle to go with the ragu that she had simmering on the stove. Then we folded a few tortellini stuffed with ricotta and herbs. Grazia told us that she’s part of a local society of women from Emilia-Romagna who ensure that important local culinary traditions aren’t lost.

Read More: A Ferry Ride from Ancona, Italy

Everything in Italy is so regional and dictated by not only local ingredients, but also the seasons and some (very serious) culinary traditions (and rules, there are always rules!) so it’s easy to make a misstep or bastardize something sacred. For example, they use much more butter and milk up in the north, whereas in Campania it’s all about the olive oil. There is an order to the dishes you’re served in restaurants, and don’t you try to stray! There are certain pasta shapes for certain sauces (obviously) but also, according to our Airbnb host in Naples, certain proteins (the bowties go with salmon*). And if you’re not making it yourself, you’re only allowed to buy one type of store-bought pasta in Italy (De Cecco).

*I swear this is what she said but there was a bit of a language barrier in good ol’ Napoli!

Back to Grazia. One of the best parts of this class was the little booklet that she gave us, inspired by her mother, filled with recipes for all the things we talked about, even if we didn’t make them ourselves: The pasta dough, the ragu (you finish it with a splash of milk, who knew?!), the tortellini filling, the mortadella mousse, the simple pesto (with tons of garlic). If I’m taking a cooking class, I’m always trying to leave with the legit, authentic recipes so I can replicate them at home.

In fact, Marko still talks about this damn carrot and onion pasta sauce we made in Tuscany and “how simple it was” and “why don’t you ever just make that?!” Uh, because you have to chop those carrots and onions into oblivion, but anyway.

In the end, our pasta-making attempts weren’t subject to a competition, and thank goodness, because Marko’s dad’s were shockingly nice-looking. We tossed them all into the same batch together so it was more of a group effort. Grazia threw in her beautiful ones in with ours, and even the ugly tortellini looked fine after we boiled them. 

She sauced everything up for us and carefully plated it so that we could enjoy our meal at the table – yes – with more wine. We had two pasta courses back to back and then a surprise tiramisu made by Grazia that was THE BEST I had in two and a half months in Italy. She said she made it without eggs because it was summertime (another one of those rules) and topped it with pistachios. Amazing, really.

Then we got to cap off the meal with our choice of limoncello or grappa… or in my case, both. You know me.

The Details!

If you’re heading to Bologna, you can book a pasta-making class through Grazia’s website. We originally found her cooking class through Airbnb Experiences if you wanna read all the views, but of course, she comes highly recommended by everybody. Grazia is hoping that more people will book her classes through her website and eventually she hopes to make these cooking classes her full-time job. If you’re in the area, look her up! We had a great time!

Note: You won’t learn to make the ragu because it takes hours, but she’ll give you the recipe!

What does the class cost? About $82 USD, which is a great value for the amount of food you get. I’ve attended other cooking classes in Europe that ranged from 100 to 110 euros.

Where I stayed? If you’re staying in Bologna (do it!), I’d definitely recommend somewhere within the old city walls. I particularly liked the east to northeast side because I feel like there are more young people around. There are also lots of cheaper bars and restaurants because you’re farther from the bigger, more popular piazzas – although it can be slightly grittier. I’ve stayed in five different apartments in Bologna, and it’s definitely my favorite area. For an idea of the area I’m referring to, Poco Ma Buono is my favorite (tiny) cafe there. 

As for accommodation, I always use Booking.com for the best prices (I’m a member so I get Genius points!) or Airbnb for long-term rentals (get $55 off your first stay using my link) because you often get amazing deals if you book more than 28 days.