A family friendly pasta class in Rome’s Trastevere to remember: learn why and how to book a pasta making class in Rome with Walks Tours.
Taking a pasta making class in Trastevere is of the best ways to tap into one of Rome’s most proud traditions: food!
Rome’s food is tasty, filling and world famous: do you know carbonara?
Carbonara is not an Italian dish, it is specifically a Roman dish, one so famous to now have risen to world fame!
This is only one of the several examples of Rome specialties you may know: Amatriciana, cacio e Pepe, gricia… Rome has a strong pasta tradition so, as you can imagine, learning how to make pasta here is a great local experience.
Out of all the places to learn pasta in Rome, Trastevere is the best known foodie district in Rome and, taking a pasta making class here is particularly meaningful.
This is why the other day I decided to try a oasta making class in this wonderful neighborhood!
With my 11 year old daugther (very fond of pasta and cooking) we booked a pasta making class in Trastevere via the lovely people of Walks/ Devour tour, and off we went on our cooking adventure!
We had an awesome time. The class was fun, hands on and super satisfying. A wonderful way to spend a morning!!
This is our review!
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Pasta making class in Trastevere at a glance
How to book: book directly with Walks/Devour Tours on >>> Devourtours / Walks website <<<
Duration: about 3 hours
Available starting times: 9:30am, 4:15pm
Age suitability: I recommend this class to all ages but especially for kids of primary school age and up (no toddlers). My daughter is 11 and we both felt the class was perfect for this age
Size of group: there were about 12 of us, each with their own working station
Setting: state of the art, brand new cooking school facility in a lovely Trastevere cobbled street
Dietary requirements: the class is suitable for vegetarians and pescatarians. However, due to the risk of cross contamination, it is not recommended for people who must avoid gluten.
Due to the nature of the local dishes prepared and the use of cheese (this is a Rome staple) and the presence of eggs in the pasta this class is also not recommended for vegans.
This is clearly stated on the official website which I found very clear and transparent about the class and what to expect.
If you have special dietary needs or requirements, I recommend you contact them and ask for alternative solutions – they are very responsive and nice!
Our experience with Walks / Devour Tour pasta class in Trastevere
Our experience making pasta in Trastevere started at 9.30 on a lovely summer morning in Rome.
Our teacher had given us an appointment at 9.30 in Piazza Trilussa, one of the most famous piazzas in Trastevere, and my daughter and I made the most of the meeting point taking a morning walk around this charming district.
We found out teacher and classmates as agreed, he welcomed us and brought us to their brand new cooking school, less than two minutes walk from the piazza.
The space they have is lovely!
The cooking school is made of two large rooms, one opening onto the other.
In one, you have a large table, well equipped with all you need to make the pasta and individual working stations.
In a different area of the same room, a great and perfectly set table built expectations for the meal that was to follow the class.
The other room was a spacious kitchen. We made good use of all the areas!
As well as being spacious and brand new, the room was fabulous temperature wise.
As you walk in, you are welcomed by strong air conditioning, which immediately put us all at ease and sighting a sigh of relief – with the heat in Rome, you could see on out faces we were a little worried about the cooking being too much but the worry was completely unfounded!
Refreshed by the air and the generous offer of a coffee and/ or a glass of Prosecco (plus chilled water for kids), we got introduced to our teachers for the day, our chef and we took our place at the cooking table.
The setting is lovely: the space has a large table with one working station per person and it is large, spacious and social.
Being all around the table allows you to see the teacher, see your cooking mates, chat while still maintaining space for yourself.
Overall, you feel the school as airy and big!
Our teacher quickly got us to work. The job on hand for the day was two types of pasta: fettuccine all’amatriciana and ravioli!
Making the pasta
The main and most fun part of the class is making pasta from scratch.
Each work station in the school is equipped with all you need to make your own pasta and the teacher is very good and explaining all the steps.
He shows you what you do, give you bits of info about pasta and its traditions, got us to play games to ‘test’ our pasta knowledge and made the whole process easy and fun.
As you work, he passes by all stations to make sure you are ok and gives individual advice so you can achieve the best result.
He was nice to all of us and super supportive of my daughter who was the youngest in the class. She felt very special as he praised her!
We mixed, knead and saw flower and eggs turning into a lovely dough!
Once the dough was ready, the pasta went in the fridge and we moved onto making the sauce!
Making the sauce
To make pasta sauce we all moved to the kitchen/hobs part of the school, just beside the working station.
The sauce we were making was amatriciana and we all watched / helped making it.
This part of the class is a little less interactive, as there is less to do, so only a couple of us got to actually operate the hobs but the teacher was great at getting us to take turns and do the chores so that everyone felt involved (squashing the tomatoes was a great one!).
They kept everyone busy and satisfied by passing around cheese to taste and telling us stories about food, cooking techniques, regional specialties and more.
This was a lovely and informative moment as they shared a lot of info not about generic Italian food but local ingredients you find in Rome and it region, how to they come together for the traditional pasta sauces and how to cook them properly.
During this phase, they also showed us how they make gelato and, spoiler! I can already tell you the fresh peach gelato they made for us was the best I have ever tasted.
Making pasta shapes
It was now time to work our dough into pasta shapes!
My daughter and I had made pasta before but this class included tools different from what we had used before, which meant we learned a lot of new things!
In this class, we got to use 5 different tools:
- The Pasta machine to flatten the dough
- The ‘chitarra’ to make fettuccine
- Two types ravioli cutter
- The sac-a-poche for the ravioli filling
The different tools were an absolute hit with us: my daughter was able to use them all and since I had booked the class for her (she loves cooking and interactive activities) it was fabulous how hands on the whole process was.
The teacher was clear and supportive every step of the way and since each person had their own working station, you never had to worry if you were cooking at a slightly different pace or needed extra help.
Everything was easy and relaxing!
The communal meal
At the end of the cooking class we all sat together to enjoy the fruits of our labor! The meal is a fun moment to chat and bond with your new cooking friends and it was lovely to hear what everyone was up to.
We heard of the travels of all people participating and it became a great opportunity to exchange stories and tips, all accompanied by the lovely pasta we made and wine offered by the school.
It was a wonderful way to spend a morning and have a memorable lunch!
What we loved about this class
There are many things that made this class stand out!
The location of the school, in such a foodie and beautiful district
The Availability and knowledge of the teachers, who were welcoming, fun and patient with all of us
The beautiful setting of the school
How lovely they were to my daughter
The nice, clean space
The deliciousness of the final result!
I have alreadt recommended this class to many people and all have loved it. If you are looking for a family friendly pasta making class in Rome, I hope you consider this one and love it!
Buon appetito!
Info, prices and booking link here >>> Devourtours / Walks website <<<
Buon appetito!