A three-to-four-hour evening structured as a Tuscan pasta-shape masterclass with dinner at the end. The chef arrives forty minutes early at your villa or farmhouse to set up each pasta-making station — wooden board, '00' flour for ribbons and filled shapes, fine semolina for pici, cracked eggs, mattarello, ravioli stamp, rotella, knife and apron per guest.
Workshop minutes 0-30 · the dough. For pappardelle/tordelli/tortelli: volcano of '00' flour, eggs cracked in the well, fork-mixing from the centre outward. For pici: semolina mound, lukewarm water and a pinch of salt, no eggs. Then the kneading: push with the heel of the hand, fold, rotate a quarter turn. Eight to ten minutes per guest until the dough is silky and bounces back. Wrapped in cling film for the rest.
Workshop minutes 30-60 · the rolling. While the dough rests, the chef demonstrates the antipasti and prepares the Tuscan sauces in the background (Chianina ragù simmering, butter melting with sage, garlic confit for pici all'aglione). Back to the dough: roll out into thin sheets (3-4 mm for pappardelle, 1-2 mm for tordelli and tortelli), measuring by hand against the wooden mattarello. The chef shows the proper way to check thickness against the kitchen light. For pici, no rolling sheet — cut into strips directly.
Workshop minutes 60-120 · the two Tuscan shapes. Cut, shape, fill, pinch, hand-roll. Two shapes per guest from the regional repertoire: pici hand-rolled strand by strand against the palm (the most muscle-memory-intensive of the four), pappardelle wide ribbons cut to 2cm with a long knife, tordelli lucchesi filled and folded into half-moons crimped at the edges, or tortelli mugellani sealed with the potato-and-parmigiano filling and stamped with the rotella. Each shape teaches a different Tuscan technique. Pasta drying on dusted boards while you wash up.
The dinner. Two Tuscan antipasti, your fresh pasta in salted water (2-3 minutes for pici, 2 for pappardelle, 3-4 for tordelli/tortelli), the two sauces tossed in the chef's skillet, plated on your patio. A Tuscan dolce closes the evening (tiramisù assembled at the table with espresso poured last, or schiacciata con l'uva in the September-October Tuscan harvest season). Then the chef cleans the kitchen and leaves you with the printed recipe cards, the flour-ratio notes for pici dough hydration, and a folder of digital recipes by email the next morning.
A deliberate Tuscan workshop menu — every dish is either pasta you produced in the workshop or a regional complement that lets the pasta shine:
Two Tuscan antipasti to start. Crostini neri toscani with chicken-liver pâté on saltless Tuscan bread · pecorino di Pienza selection with Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil from Chianti or Lucca producers (or seasonal: fig and prosciutto Toscano in late summer, pinzimonio with new-pressed olio nuovo in November, fettunta with garlic and Tuscan oil from October).
Two pasta courses, both produced by you in the workshop. Two of the four signature Tuscan shapes paired with their traditional sauces: pici al cacio e pepe (hand-rolled pici you produced, tossed with pecorino di Pienza and freshly cracked pepper) · pappardelle al ragù bianco di Chianina (your 2cm-wide ribbons with slow-cooked Chianina white ragù, no tomato) · tordelli lucchesi al sugo di carne (your filled half-moons with Lucca's meat ragù) · tortelli mugellani al burro e salvia (your potato-stuffed tortelli with butter and Tuscan sage). The chef confirms the two shapes at booking based on your group's interest.
One Tuscan dolce. Homemade tiramisù assembled in front of you with savoiardi, mascarpone and espresso poured at the table — or seasonal swap to schiacciata con l'uva (sweet Tuscan focaccia with wine grapes, available September-October during the Tuscan harvest), or cantucci con Vin Santo (Prato almond biscuits dipped in sweet wine).
Wine pairing is offered as an optional paid add-on: Chianti Classico, Rosso di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino, Vernaccia di San Gimignano — with or without a dedicated Tuscan sommelier. Many guests prefer to bring bottles from their villa cellar. Workshop format: 2 to 12 guests, beginner-friendly, kids 6+ welcome on age-appropriate steps (tordelli filling, pici rolling, tortelli stamping, schiacciata assembly).
The set menu is fixed by design — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and allergy adaptations always available on request.
Ask the chef to teach you the pici hand-rolling technique even if you booked two ribbon shapes — pici is the only pasta in the Tuscan repertoire (and arguably in all of Italy) made entirely without eggs and entirely without a machine or a press. The dough is fine semolina, lukewarm water and a pinch of salt; the technique is rolling each strand by hand against the wooden board, from the centre outward, using only the warmth and pressure of your palms. Locals call it pizzicare i pici — pinching the pici. It is the most muscle-memory-intensive of all Tuscan pasta shapes and the most difficult to find on a generic pasta-making class outside Tuscany. The Val d'Orcia chefs in our network grew up rolling pici with their grandmothers — book a workshop in that area and you get the source-of-the-tradition version.
Verified profiles, client-reviewed and hand-picked for Tuscany.
Chef On Demand is Italy's private chef marketplace connecting clients with 12 verified professional chefs serving Tuscany. Brand rating 4.7/5 on 73+ Trustpilot reviews, first custom proposal in under 24 hours, fresh ingredients, service and cleanup included.
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