The Olive Press Kitchen (Formerly Extra Virgin Cooking Classes)

Chef Giuseppe at work

Here is a recipe for a wonderful day of cooking in Italy:

Start with Chef Giuseppe Mazzocchi (he makes the magic happen). You’ll meet Giuseppe, along with your small group of classmates, for a bit of shopping at Montecatini’s market. Here you’ll find fresh herbs, veggies, and just the right beans for soup. It’s a great way to start the day and learn about local ingredients.

This very old “hog-back” bridge spans the stream behind Il Molino

Next, spend the day at the historic molino (mill) where Giuseppe’s grandparents lived and worked. The mill property is over 600 years old and sits alongside a stream whose waters once powered the mill equipment.

Inside the old mill you’ll find a professional kitchen with lots of workspace. Here, under the chef’s guidance, you will prepare and cook authentic Italian dishes. If the day is chilly, there will be a fire burning in the kitchen’s large fireplace. Could there be a better atmosphere for cooking? I think not!

To make the atmosphere even better, enjoy some Prosecco while prepping ingredients and take a break to sample some regional olive oils and cheeses.

Later, when all the work is done, you’ll share a fabulous lunch with your classmates in the beautiful dining room, the spot which once housed the olive press. Today it is a rustic yet elegant space with a table large enough for all to gather. Giuseppe will select wines that pair perfectly with the food you’ve prepared. A member of the Italian Sommelier Association, he knows his wines and happily shares that knowledge during the meal.

A beautiful table setting adds to the enjoyment of lunch

Some of you may have done a class with Giuseppe at Extra Virgin Cooking when it was located inside the historic center of Lucca. Those classes were wonderful and inspired me to write an earlier blog post (from April 2022). With completion of the mill renovations, all of the classes moved out to Il Molino last summer. New location and a new name - The Olive Press Kitche. I was excited to experience the new location when, with a couple of friends, I signed up for a class this past October.

The cooking school is in the hills outside of Montecatini. Montecatini can be reached by train along the Florence - Lucca line. Coming from either Lucca or Florence, it is about 30 minutes to the Montecatini Centro stop. Once there, Giuseppe will meet you and it is just a short walk to the market. Classes include round trip transportation between Montecatini and Il Molino.

My October class took place on a chilly, rainy day so we enjoyed the fireplace while we prepared our first course, a Zuppa Frantoiana. This is a typical fall soup of vegetables and beans drizzled with the season’s fresh pressed olive oil.

We also prepared a beef based ragu to go with Gnudi, a light as a cloud ricotta and spinach dumpling. Shaping the gnudi takes practice and we all had fun learning the technique (but even more fun eating them at lunch).

Fall is funghi (mushroom) season, so we also made a risotto with several types of mushrooms, including porcinis.

I can almost smell these thyme scented mushrooms cooking!

Last, we made a wonderful classic Italian dessert - zabaglione. Rich with egg yolk, sugar, marsala wine, and whipped cream, it was topped with fresh berries. A perfect way to end our meal.

Everything about classes with The Olive Press Kitchen is special. From Giuseppe’s care and teaching, to the gorgeous setting, to the small group of students, to the shared meal of authentic foods and wines. For anyone interested in food, cooking, or just good eating, a day spent at the mill cooking with Giuseppe is a fabulous experience.

Classes are scheduled 3 days per week, 9 am to about 2:30 pm. All classes are in English. Cost (as of January 2025) is €130 per person.

Contact info: info@theolivepresskitchen.com

Website: theolivepresskitchen.com

All The Right Ingredients: Extra Virgin Cooking Classes in Lucca, Italy

One of the good things about having friends visit me in Lucca is the chance to recommend activities that I think will enhance their experience, things that may not be found in the guidebooks. Sometimes my suggestions include a visit to a “secret” garden, a hidden away little church, a walk beneath Lucca’s walls, or a local festival.

Another activity I like to recommend - and one of the most fun things to do when visiting Italy - is a cooking class with a local chef. Recently I had the pleasure of spending the day, along with some visiting friends, with Chef Giuseppe Mazzocchi at Extra Virgin Cooking Classes (EVCC) in Lucca. And what a day it was!

Tuscan cooking, and Tuscan olive oil, come naturally to Chef Giuseppe. I guess that is what happens when you are born and raised at your grandfather’s olive mill in a small Tuscan village! Giuseppe began to cook alongside his family and many of the recipes he shares come straight from his nonna (grandmother). More than being a talented chef and teacher, Giuseppe has a love for local culinary traditions and flavors that make his classes a wonderful window into Tuscan life.

Just one detail from the elegant dining table at EVCC (designed by the talented Liz)

If Giuseppe is the heart of the kitchen, then it is his partner Liz who lends elegance to the dining experience. Together they welcome you into their home, invite you into their kitchen, and, once the cooking is done, present an absolutely gorgeous table setting at which to enjoy lunch. Liz’s table settings are picture-worthy touches of luxury.

The class day began in Lucca’s historic center with stops at several small shops to gather supplies. Visits to an historic pastry shop, a fabulous bread baker, and the city’s best fruit and vegetable shop provided a fun start to a morning of cooking.

Then it was into the kitchen, a spacious, well-equipped, and charming workspace inside an historic Lucca home. I had a serious case of kitchen envy, especially for the long farmhouse work table, which I swear was larger than my entire kitchen.

Before we got to work cooking, Giuseppe led us through some tastings. First, three different types of extra virgin olive oil, including a local Tuscan oil. Next, a sampling of pecorino cheeses from fresh to aged to really aged, along with a local chestnut honey which perfectly complimented the cheese. There just may have been some sipping of Prosecco while we tasted. Shh. Don’t tell (usually I wait until afternoon for a Prosecco).

The menu this day started with a raw artichoke salad with a lemony dressing. The shaved artichoke rested on a base of the prettiest greens I’ve ever seen, including a variegated radicchio.

Now that’s a salad !

We had fun learning how to make, and then shape, the gnudi. Gnudi are interesting. They are essentially the filling for a ravioli, ricotta with chard (or spinach) and parmesan, but without being enclosed in a pasta shell. An egg white and some rice flour bind the soft gnudi together and then they are shaped using two spoons to form an oval that will hold together during a brief dance in some boiling water. We also made a quickly cooked tomato sauce which went over the gnudi at the end. The result was a tasty and light as air dish.

Next up - a fragrant risotto with leeks and just the right amount of truffle butter. If only I could share the scent here - it was intoxicating. We even learned the chef’s secret for preparing a risotto without the constant stirring.

Leek and truffle risotto alongside gnudi in tomato sauce

How gorgeous is this berry topped panna cotta? It tasted as good as it looked!

Dessert had been prepared ahead of time for us - a beautiful heart shaped panna cotta with a berry sauce.

Together we plated the panna cotta, topped them with berries, and added a garnish of chopped of fresh mint.

Just when we didn’t think we could eat another bite, cups of espresso came with tiny bites of sweet pastry. Somehow we managed!

After a fun morning preparing food, it was a treat to sit down to lunch at a beautiful table (thank you Liz) and share the meal we had prepared.

Lunch was accompanied by local wines, good conversation, and lots of laughter.

We all agreed that we had spent a perfect day in Giuseppe’s kitchen. We left with recipes, a EVCC apron, and good memories of a day well spent. And we all started planning our return.

Contact info: Extra Virgin Cooking Classes in Lucca with Chef Giuseppe Mazzocchi

Email: tuscancook@gmail.com