Typical Apulian Orecchiette Cooking Class + Dinner included and Wines

Recommended by 90% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Lecce, Italy

High interest

Booked 2 times today.

2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Apulia is known for its top-notch cuisine, even among Italians. But culinary secrets are closely guarded, and it can be hard to find authentic pasta once your vacation ends. Master time-tested recipes you can recreate back home during this private pasta-making workshop. Roll out the dough, and create typical “orecchiette” shapes paired with tomato sauce. Then, sit down to enjoy your freshly prepared creations—along with plenty of local wine.

Workshops take place in a centuries-old courtyard located in the heart of Lecce
Private tours ensure a personalized experience, adapted to your style and rhythm
Get hands-on tips and guidance as you cook from a professional chef
Indulge in a home-cooked meal that you can't find in any restaurant

Sample Menu

Main

Tomato orecchiette

Orecchiette and sagne with fresh tomato and basil

What's Included

Flour, water, rolling pin, forks, knife, work surface.
Dinner
Soda/Pop

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Via Ascanio Grandi, 56, 73100 Lecce LE, Italy
The homemade pasta workshop will take place in via Ascanio Grandi number 56 in Lecce. Entering from Porta San Biagio the second street on the right.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.6:30 pm

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Giana_G

This was an amazing class. The staff and even the classmates were all wonderful people. Erica and her mother were both so sweet and kind and very patient. They also were extremely informative and overall enjoyable to be around. I would 100% recommend this to anyone wanting to have a fun friendly night in Lecce

Reviews

4.6

based on 73 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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Great experience

Suzzanne_G, Aug 2025

We thoroughly enjoyed our night with this cooking class. It’s hands on helping to make the pasta dough and everyone gets to make the 2 pasta’s to be ready for cooking.

Learning from some wonderful Nonnas in Lecce

Brett_B, May 2025

It started out a bit slow, but quickly escalated into a memorable, enjoyable evening with a great dinner and fun new friends from around the world. We made two types of pasta by hand, learning technique and style as we did it. The we got to enjoy our creation in a wonderfully savory meal. Great experience!

Amazing!

Giana_G, Oct 2024

Good, but Missing Details

Michael_B, Oct 2024

It was a fun evening, but here are some details that would have made the experiene even better, and have been included in every other cooking I have taken. 1. The event organizers should have introduced themselves and all the staff, what the evening was about, and an agenda of how the evening was planned. The class just started without any of this. 2. There should have been time at the start of the class for all the participants to introduce themselves. This is usually customary in other such events I have attended. 3. The organizers should have explained the history of the pasta we were making, and the traditional recipes that the pasta are used in. 4. The traditional recipes the pasta can be used in, should have been provided as a take home item. 5. The sauce was very bland. I could not even taste it. It smelled great, but that is about it. I hope this constructive criticism can be used to make this experience better for others.

Overpriced Tourist Trap

Karin_S, Aug 2024

It’s clear the operators of this class value quantity over quality. There were 41 participants in the class I attended—way too many for the instructors to teach and guide. I felt like a kindergarten student being told to “cut this” and “roll that” without any thought given or explanation provided towards the history of this type of pasta, ingredients and measurements, or proper techniques. The pasta was cooked in a separate room; we weren’t told for how long it should cook or what sauces or other foods combine well with it. The finished product—pasta with tomato sauce—tasted very bland. The people were nice and the courtyard pleasant (although I was sent to the interior room because 41 people could not fit in the 1400s courtyard which is advertised when booking) but at €55 this is overpriced and quite simply not worth it. You’re better off buying orecchiette pasta and a jar of tomato sauce at the supermarket and cooking it yourself.

Loved it

paul_b, Jul 2024

Friendly and so much fun - had an amazing time cooking, outdoors in a 14th century courtyard - highly reccomeded

Fun evening

Lisa_S, May 2024

The experience of making traditional pasta with Erica and her family was very enjoyable! It was an authentic, hands-on evening complemented with music and lively conversation. We would have liked to have done even more cooking, but all in all we were very happy.

Fun and delicious

David_G, May 2024

What a lot of fun! Enrica was lovely, informative, and entertaining and her mother was great at showing us how to make orrechiette and macaroni. We had a tasty meal with the other guests and everyone was very friendly and happy. The meal was delicious in spite of our less than professional pasta results, Even if you’re not a great cook, it’s worth trying out the class.

Great experience and so much to learn

Florence_A, May 2024

If you are looking for a great cooking experience, this is it. Very intimate setting. Clear and hands on instructions. Dinner was the pasta we had made. It was absolutely delicious. The pasta was served in a simple tomato sauce. There was also a selection of wines and cake for dessert. All in all a great evening. Highly recommended.

Don't miss this.

Sal, May 2024

Anna Maria and Katerina were fantastic hosts for our cooking experience. Great fun to learn the secrets of Apulian pasta making, and enjoying the fruits of our labour with local wine and fellow travellers. Brilliant experience highly recommended.

An intersection of culinary delight and culture

Christine_S, Apr 2024

Enrica and Anna Maria were wonderful! Enrica is passionate about her region and is gifted at many more traditional activities than making orrechietti. She also told us about the history of the site in the courtyard where we made the pasta. We had a fun evening and can only highly recommend this activity. Anna Maria gave us her full attention in trying to turn us into pasta producers…we promised her to keep practicing!!!

Perfect evening with lovely hosts!

Femke_T, Nov 2023

We had the honor of being the last guests of the season. We had such a good time making the orecchiette and hearing the stories about the different types of pasta and its origin. We tried to make the orecchiette and macaroni look perfect by watching the ‘master’. (Ofcourse ours were a bit less perfect ;) ). The explanation in English was perfect and the hosts were absolutely lovely! For our next time visiting Lecce we would definitely come back. Thanks again for the great evening!

It was ok

Fatima_H, Oct 2023

Making the pasta. I felt their could have been a bit more explanation . I also booked for an English class and the host spoke to another couple in French regularly without translating into English. The class could have been much better with a bit more information and structure

Fun pasta class in Lecce.

Kate_W, Oct 2023

This was a great class where we learned how to make orecchiette and another noodle from the same dough. It was held outside in a courtyard next to a museum (which belongs to the same family and is very interesting). We were taught to make to dough - not a whole lot of detailed instruction, but that's understandable as these ladies have done it for years by feel (there are also only two ingredients) but you do get to participate and see the masters at work. After, the pasta was cooked up for us and turned out delicious! We had dinner as a group and it was a very nice experience overall. The only thing I wish is that we'd worn bug spray as there were some mosquito bites afterwards, but that really has nothing to do with the class.

Fantastic pasta making class

Kieran_R, Sep 2023

Fantastic pasta making class, the women were very welcoming and very friendly. The meal and wine at the end was excellent, highly recommended.

Fun solo experience!

Cinzia_H, Jul 2023

Due to a last minute change, I needed to bring my dog with me. She was able to hang out in the courtyard while I learned how to make orecchiette! It was so much fun and I met such nice people! I recommend the experience, as well as getting there early to see the museum next door.

Patexpertise

Herve_N, Nov 2024

Ambiance sympathique pour préparer orecchiette et macaroni et les déguster dans la foulée Merci à la chef cuisinière annamaria et à la traductrice Katarina

Molto divertente

Eros_M, Nov 2024

Un esperienza veramente divertente, siamo stati accolti da una ragazza e la sua famiglia che ci hanno accompagnato in un locale rustico tipico leccese. Da qui abbiamo iniziato ad impastare le orecchiette insieme alle massaie che ci spiegavano passo passo come fare le orecchiette e i maccheroni. Ovviamente la nostra manualità non è minimamente paragonabile alla loro bravura. Ci siamo sentiti in famiglia. Ci siamo divertiti molto. Una volta preparate le orecchiette tra una battuta e L altra le abbiamo mangiate con del buon sugo. Nel mentre che aspettavamo la loro cottura siamo stati deliziati da un aperitivo con frise e taralli. In conclusione una fantastica esperienza.

Authentisches Kochen in der Altstadt von Lecce

Michael_S, Aug 2024

Ein sehr angenehmer Orecchiette Kochkurs. Enrica und ihre Mutter haben alles wunderbar organisiert und durchgeführt. Die Location ist ein typischer Innenhof in der Altstadt von Lecce, man fühlte sich sehr wohl.

Einzigartige Pasta Leccese

Carmine_C, Aug 2024

Ein wunderschöner Abend zusammen mit der Oma und Familie Hausgemachte Pasta selbst zu erleben. Kompliment an die Verantwortlichen und eine gelungene Veranstaltung.

Tolle familiäre Erfahrung bei der Herstellung von Orecciette und Maccheroni

Daniela_D, Jul 2024

Die Familie war sehr warmherzig und bei jeder Frage behilflich. Es war eine sehr schöne Stimmung und wir lernten die Kunst der Herstellung der Orecchiette und Maccheroni. Wir würden den Kurs allen Empfehlen, die in einem Safespace die Kultur von Lecce in liebevoller Weise näher kennenlernen wollen.

Gente molto amabile

Lee_G, Apr 2024

Una esperienza meravigliosa! Grazie mille a tutti! 🙏 Torneremmo pronto. Adesso siamo quasi esperti. 😁

Un bon moment convivial !

Myke_P, Sep 2023

Super ambiance au centre de Lecce ! Le cadre est vraiment très chouette. Le cours est convivial et sans prise de tête. Tout ce qu'il faut pour des vacances... et apprendre à faire des pâtes maison de A à Z !