Pick vegetables from our vegetable garden and do some Tuscan cooking with us.

The importance of using local products is an issue of our times. Can you imagine “local” as just a few steps between the picked produce and the cooked meal? This is what happens in “Picked and Cooked”, the Villa Campestri cooking course.

The “dressing”.

Everything begins with the “dressing”. We put on an apron, comfortable shoes, and take up a wicker basket. Then we set off for the vegetable and herb gardens that are overflowing with seasonal vegetation. We choose the ripest vegetables and put our hands in the earth in order to pick them and fill up our baskets. On the way back to the kitchen we can check out the chicken coop and see if there are any fresh eggs.

The fruit of your work in the basket.

One of the most beautiful picture that you will ever see is the composition of the vegetables that we will spread out on the kitchen table. This composition is a mixture of colors and aromas that stimulate the imagination. What dish will emerge from the mixture of these aromas and flavors? When it comes to Tuscan reasoning and vegetables, our Chef Cristian Borchi is never short of ideas. He is able to transform any ingredient into an authentic Tuscan dish. If zucchinis are in season, then we can use them to prepare a puree, a soup, or a quiche. If black cabbage is in season, we can prepare it over toasted bread or we can create cabbage rolls.

The transformation.

This is the moment when the ingredients are transformed. Peeling, cutting, and placing the ingredients in the pan will be merry tasks. Cristian will direct an orchestra of flavors and impart his culinary art to the participants. He will give small tips and “tricks of the trade” for preparing recipes according to the ingredients, herbs, and Olive Oil that are at hand (let’s not forget that Olive Oil is the heart of our resort!).

The triumph of the palate.

The best judge of our efforts is our palate. When the food is ready, we will savor it. This is a moving moment: culinary knowledge meets the fundamental ingredient of Tuscan cuisine: conviviality.

The course is available from the second half of May until the end of October.

Participants can practice all of the aspects of the preparation of these dishes during the lessons. Minimum 2 participants.

The cost is € 120.00 per person and includes the tasting of the food prepared during the lesson.