Passport to Italy - Puglia - Learn to make Orecchiette & More

Travel with us to the Southern Italian Region of Puglia - located on the heel of the boot.

Learn how to make pasta like a tiny Italian Nonna (or Nonno).

Puglia's food isknown for simplicity, highlighting fresh, local ingredients from its fertile lands and extensive coastline, embodying a "cucina povera" (poor cuisine) tradition.

We will make 3 signature Pugliese Pasta Dishes:

Orecchiette - Garlic Broccoli Sauce
Troccoli - Tomato Burrata Sauce
Ciceri e Tria - Chick Pea “Ragu”

All classes are hands-on. We have a collection of traditional pasta making tools from Italy.

We eat what we make! We will cook up the pasta together for a tasting at the end of the class. This is typically enough for a light meal.

NOTE: Classes are held at IL LABORATORIO - our Italian Cooking School kitchen located at 3101 Guess Rd. (NOT at Melina's Fresh Pasta shop).

All participants receive a Class Recipe Book via email after the class with the recipes from the class.

Please read FAQs below this description before calling the pasta shop with questions.

GIFT CARDS? Please call the pasta shop to redeem a gift card - 919-403-3663

Carmella Alvaro - Owner & Pasta Maker, Il Laboratorio & Melina’s Fresh Pasta
My parents, Giuseppe and Giuseppa, came to America with my sister, Rita, and brother, Rocco, over fifty years ago from Sinopoli, a small town near Reggio, Calabria, on the southern tip of Italy. I was born in Syracuse, NY a few years later and was lucky enough to grow up in the local close knit Italian American community watching my Mom cook meals from scratch, using ingredients my Dad grew in his backyard garden. After leaving home, I missed the homemade Italian food I grew up with so I took a trip to Italy to learn how to make fresh pasta. When I returned I founded Melina’s Fresh Pasta in 2010 and Il Laboratorio - An Italian Focused Cooking Class Kitchen - in 2024.

****If you have a gift card, please follow instruction under "Gift Cards" below****

If the class is full - register for the wait list and you will be contacted first for future classes.

No Refunds
All classes are non-refundable; however, we can move your registration to a different date if you are unable to make it to the class (must give us 7 days notice). Rescheduling classes for less than 7 days notice only available if we can fill your spot from the waitlist. Please send an email to [email protected] - do not call for cancellations.

Questions? Email: [email protected]
(please do not email through eventbrite - we do not receive those emails)

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