New: Southern Italy Tour October 2025

We're so excited about our brand new Secrets of Southern Italy Cooking Tour from October 8 to 16, 2025. This 9-day, 8-night experience allows you to discover 3 amazing Italian regions: Puglia, Calabria, and Basilicata, each of which boasts its own delicious cuisine, breathtaking landscapes, and rich cultural heritage (not to mention, local dialect, architecture, and art). Anyone with roots in southern Italy will want to join this amazing tour!

We'll spend four nights at a beautiful agriturismo in Puglia, an hour's drive from the fascinating Baroque city of Lecce, and four nights at an idyllic estate in Calabria, with a view of the glittering Ionian Sea. Both agriturismi have been booked exclusively for our group and have beautiful pools surrounded by nature. The spacious kitchen and airy dining room of each property allow us to enjoy leisurely mornings of hands-on cooking and sun-kissed lunches before heading out for an afternoon of sightseeing and culinary discovery. Dinners are at each region's best restaurants, paired with local wines.

This tour is brand new and we expect it to fill FAST, so don't wait to reserve your spots! Upgraded accommodations are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, including the opportunity to sleep in a trullo, the unique stone dwelling of Puglia with a conical roof.

Watch a video here

Note to repeat Rustico Cooking travelers: This tour is different from both our Puglia & Beyond Tour and our Sicily & Beyond Tour, which you may have already experienced.

What's Included in our Southern Italy Tour?

Hassle-free, all-inclusive travel... From the moment you arrive at the agriturismo in Puglia to the moment you leave the agriturismo in Calabria, everything is included: every meal with wine, private transportation, tastings, hands-on cooking classes, and more. No need to worry about the stressful details that can make or break your vacation; we take care of it all!

all breakfasts, all lunches, all dinners
8 nights hotel stay (upgrade to premium accommodations available)
private room with en-suite bathroom
5 hands-on cooking classes
wine with all lunches and dinners
olive oil tasting and visit of olive mill
gelato class with a master gelataio
wine tasting
hands-on cheesemaking class (burrata, mozzarella, and more)
all organized group activities
transportation by private bus to towns such as Alberobello, Ostuni, Civita, Altomonte, Matera, and more
all cooking class recipes
Rustico Cooking apron
One-year Rustico Cooking Video Membership

Tour Calendar for 2025

Client Testimonial: Laura & Mike G., Morris Plains, NJ

"I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible week in Liguria. From the hands-on cooking classes where I learned amazing recipes and many new skills, to visits to so many different towns, each with its own unique charm and personality, every detail was perfect. 
The classes and demonstrations by the local artisans from gelato and chocolate, to olive oil pastry and wine, was fascinating and delicious. The outstanding meals highlighting local cuisine and ingredients that amazing restaurants were delightful. I especially loved hearing the stories and rich history of the area that you both shared so generously with us. 
Thank you for being so thoughtful and making sure we had the most memorable experience. You truly went above and beyond, and it was clear how much you care and how much love you put into everything." 

Farinata (Chickpea Flour Pancake from Liguria)

This thin chickpea flour pancake has been baked since time immemorial on hot stones, a primitive sort of bread that is hearty, nutritious, and delicious; dock workers in Genova made a simple meal of farinata until the 1950s, when the Italian economy improved, as it is quite filling and rich in protein. The Provencal bake a similar dish, called Socca, likely developed in the centuries Provence was inhabited by Liguria. To be truly authentic, farinata should be baked in a very hot oven, quickly, and preferably in a heavy tin pan with a copper base, as copper transfers the heat to the batter faster and prevents it from drying out in the oven; a heated cast iron pan works as an alternative.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer (12-inch or 32-centimeter pan)

• 175 grams Italian chickpea flour
• 525 grams room temperature water
• 4.5 grams sea salt, plus extra for serving
• 32 grams extra-virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

Place the chickpea flour in a large bowl. Slowly pour in the water, beating all the while with a whisk to avoid lumps. If needed, strain the batter through a fine sieve to eliminate lumps. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside 12 hours at cool room temperature. The batter should be as thin as heavy cream and will look slightly foamy. If you like, skim the foam off the top and discard.

When you are ready to cook the farinata, preheat the oven with a baking stone in it to 550 degrees for 1 hour.

Whisk the salt into the chickpea batter. Set a large spoon next to the bowl of batter (you will need it later).

Place a farinata pan or cast iron skillet (see introductory notes) on the stone in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Immediately remove from the oven and pour in the olive oil. Swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with the olive oil.

Whisk the batter vigorously to ensure that it is of the same viscosity throughout; the flour often settles on the bottom.

Place the large spoon with the back side facing up (meaning convex rather than concave side facing up) in the middle over the oiled pan.

Pour the batter so it falls over the back of the spoon into the hot oiled pan. The oil will form a barrier between the pan and the batter, rising up and around the batter thanks to the spoon. This is a key step that prevents the batter from sticking to the pan.

Note that the amount of batter is sized to the diameter of the pan: The batter should be quite thin as it covers the pan, less than 1/4-inch (0.65 centimeters) thick. If there seems to be too much batter for the pan, hold some back and make a second pancake with it: if the pancake is too thick, it will bake up soggy throughout rather than crispy outside and creamy within.

Carefully move the hot pan onto the baking stone in the preheated oven.

Bake 15 minutes, or until set on the bottom and golden brown around the edges and starting to crack on top. If you like a thick, burnished crust on your farinata, place under a preheated broiler for 1 minute. Serve piping hot, seasoned with salt and pepper.