How it works · Como · Lake Como
How Our Cooking Class Works – Step by Step
Don’t like surprises? Perfect. Here’s exactly how a class with us unfolds, from the moment you send your request to the last spoonful of dessert.
Before you arrive
Choose one of our masterclasses, a date and the number of guests, then send the form. No upfront payment. Our team replies within 24 hours by email or WhatsApp to confirm your date; that’s also when we sort out payment details together (bank transfer or Stripe on arrival).
Address: Via Teresa Ciceri 10A, 22100 Como — a 10-minute walk from the historic centre and the lake. Show up 10 minutes early. Aprons provided, bring only your hands.
The ritual, step by step (~3 hours)
1. Welcome at the bench: your panetto
You start at your own wooden board, with flour and eggs. You mix, you knead, and the dough slowly becomes a smooth panetto — yours, from the first minute.
2. The rest, and the balsamico
The panetto is wrapped in cling film and set aside to rest: pasta doesn’t like to be rushed. While it rests, depending on your masterclass, Marco, our resident chef, introduces the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP from Acetaia del Cristo — the few drops that finish the gelato at the end of the meal — or prepares the sauce in front of you. It is a family acetaia, three generations old, where the balsamic is made from a single ingredient, cooked grape must, and aged twenty-five years in a battery of wooden casks; the cherry-barrel one is fruity and sweet, perfect on gelato. Read more about the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena we use.
3. The aperitivo
While the dough rests, everyone gathers around a board of cured meats and cheeses. This is the aperitivo, the most Italian of rituals, and a pause to chat before the rolling pins come out. The spritz is not on the masterclass menu, but if you are curious, just ask: we will gladly show you how to make one during the class.
4. The chef’s sfoglia demonstration
Our resident chef rolls out a sheet of dough with the wooden rolling pin, following the method of Rina Poletti’s Accademia della Sfoglia. You watch the dough become sfoglia: thin, even, alive. We tell the story of that tradition on our story page.
5. You roll and cut
Then it’s your turn. You stretch your own sfoglia and cut your shape — tagliatelle, green ravioloni, farfalle or garganelli, depending on the class you chose — with our resident chef beside you, correcting hands and pressure as you go.
6. The table
Your pasta goes into the pot and arrives at the table minutes later. You eat what you made, with local wine (one bottle for every four guests), and finish with gelato and a few drops of 25-year-aged Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP from Acetaia del Cristo. The recipes follow by email.
Our masterclasses
- Tagliatelle Masterclass – Fresh Tomato — hand-rolled tagliatelle, fresh cherry tomato sauce, gelato with traditional balsamic vinegar
- Tagliatelle Masterclass – Ragù Bolognese — rolling-pin tagliatelle and a slow-cooked ragù
- Gnocchi Masterclass — hand-made potato gnocchi, with fresh tomato or ragù Bolognese
- Ravioloni Verdi Masterclass – Ricotta — green spinach sfoglia, ravioloni filled with ricotta
- Farfalle e Garganelli Masterclass — two shapes and two tastings from a single sfoglia, with fresh tomato or ragù Bolognese
- Risotto Masterclass — risotto alla milanese: Saffron Risotto or Luganega Risotto, the saffron risotto with luganega, the fresh pork sausage of Lombardy
Prices start at €130 per person: the Saffron Risotto is €130 and the Luganega Risotto (pork sausage) €140; pasta is €150 with fresh tomato and for the ravioloni, €160 with ragù Bolognese. Sessions of up to 12 guests; larger private groups on request.
What’s included
- Apron and all ingredients
- Guidance from our resident chef
- An aperitivo with cured meats and cheeses
- The meal you cook, with local wine at the table (one bottle for every four guests)
- Dessert: gelato with 25-year-aged Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP from Acetaia del Cristo
- Recipes emailed to you
Frequent questions
Allergies, gluten, groups, payment, cancellation — all answered on our FAQ page.
Fits your itinerary
- Evening classes run 6–9 PM — the meal you cook is your dinner, so it’s a natural pick for your last evening in Como.
- Morning classes finish by 1 PM — the whole afternoon stays free for the lake.
- From Milan, about 40 minutes by train — check Trenord for current timetables.
You’ll cook with Marco
Our home chef
Mani in Pasta is a family: Marco at the wooden bench, Valentina at his side — and some evenings Marco’s mamma, Silvana, at the stove. The ragù is hers. You cook the way this house has always cooked: together.