Tagliatelle Masterclass in Como – Hand-Rolled Tagliatelle al Ragù Bolognese

Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese is the dish Emilia is judged by, and it deserves to be learned properly. In this hands-on tagliatelle al ragù cooking class in Como you start at the wooden board: flour and eggs, your own ball of dough, then a sheet of pasta rolled out the sfoglia way – with the long rolling pin, the technique our resident chef studied at the Accademia della Sfoglia – before you cut your tagliatelle by hand.

While you work, a ragù alla bolognese simmers slowly on the stove: soffritto, meat, tomato and time. Our resident chef shows you how it is built and why it cannot be hurried – a good ragù is less a recipe than a lesson in patience, and you taste the difference slow cooking makes from the first bite.

As the dough rests, the aperitivo begins: a glass of prosecco and a proper spritz lesson. You learn to make the perfect spritz – Aperol or Campari – the proportions and the gestures, build your own, and take home a small Italian ritual along with the pasta.

Dessert tells a story of its own. We serve gelato with traditional balsamic vinegar and explain where those few dark drops come from: the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP from Acetaia del Cristo, a family acetaia in the same Emilian land as the sfoglia. A single ingredient – cooked grape must – aged at least twelve years as it moves from cask to cask along a battery of different woods, until a few drops are enough. The one matured in cherry-wood barrels is fruity and sweet, perfect on ice cream: a sweet-and-sour balance that becomes a small lesson in taste. Read more about the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena we use.

Then you sit down and eat what you have made – tagliatelle al ragù, wine on the table, gelato to finish – in a modern, elegant yet welcoming home where professional guidance meets genuine Italian hospitality.