DIY Italian: cooking classes in Sydney

These days, you don't need to be in a farmhouse in the fields of Tuscany to learn how to make fresh pasta or pizza dough from scratch or prepare a classic meat ragu low and slow.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of food fanatics and Italian chefs, Italian cooking classes, which will teach you how to cook like a nonna in no time, are now held most weekends in Sydney.

The Spirit of Naples

Where: Salt Meats Cheese, 41 Bourke Road, Alexandria, 9690 2406
When: 10.30am-noon, May 3
The teacher: Lucio De Falco, of Lucio Pizzeria
The cost: $89

The class: Lucio De Falco is a native of Naples and a purist when it comes to making authentic pizza. This interactive class will be held in the guts of this gritty Alexandria warehouse, where guests will watch and learn as Lucio reveals, step by step, the secrets to making authentic wood-fired Neapolitan pizza.

As well as learning how to make pizza from scratch, the 50-odd budding pizzaioli will each receive an aperitivo on arrival, two glasses of wine, and a gift bag of ingredients they will need to replicate the dish at home. They will also be rewarded with a mozzarella-making demonstration followed by a wood-fired feast of pizza, wine and beer at the end of the class.

For more information on all the Italian cooking classes on offer at Salt Meats Cheese, see saltmeatscheese.com.au

The Long Italian Lunch

Where: Cucina Italiana, 84 Johnston Street, Annandale, 8021 2699
When: Sat-Sun 10am-2pm
The teacher: Luciana Sampogna
The cost: $155

The class: This four-hour hands-on course is conducted in the elegant kitchen of Luciana Sampogna's grand heritage-listed Italian villa in Annandale. The home, built almost a century ago, is a romantic setting, with ornate stucco ceilings, a glittering mosaic floor, gilded mirrors and vases of fresh flowers. Here, participants will gather around Lucia's communal table, where they will learn to put together a menu classico that includes antipasti, tortelli di zucca (tortelli stuffed with pumpkin), pasta stuffed with beetroot, scaloppine with chicken and herbs and a semifreddo al caffe.

Guests will then gather around Lucia's dining table to enjoy a long lunch with great wine and new friends. Food fanatics will be felice (happy) to learn Lucia has opened a second cooking school in Venice.

Cucina Italiana also offers gluten-free cooking classes. For more information, see cucinaitaliana.com.au

Eugenio Maiale - A Tavola

Where: Sydney Seafood School, Level 1, Waterfront Arcade, Sydney Fish Market, Bank Street, Pyrmont
When: March 24
The teacher: Eugenio Maiale
The cost: $85

The class: The Sydney Seafood School has a state-of-the-art 66-seat amphitheatre, where guests can watch top Italian chefs such as Eugenio Maiale, of A Tavola, make seafood-centric dishes from the regions they hail from.After a tutorial in the amphitheatre, guests gather around the school's stainless-steel cooking islands, which encourage interaction as groups work together while they cook, before discussing the food and wine over dinner.

On the menu will be classics such as spaghetti con le cozze (spaghetti with mussels) or triglie ripiene al cartoccio (stuffed red mullet in baking paper) influenced by Maiale's Abruzzo heritage.

See sydneyfishmarket.com.au for the March-June classes, with chefs such as Alessandro Pavoni and Giovanni Pilu.

Signorelli Gastronomia

Where: 48 Trouton Place, Pyrmont, 8571 0616
When: Tuesday nights from 6.30pm; group bookings are every Saturday from 3pm
The teacher: Frederico Vigano
The cost: $95-$115

Gastronomia is the study of the relationship between culture and food, and that, says restaurant manager Mattia Bartolucci, is what the cooking classes at the school are all about.

Bartolucci says the school, which has been established for four years, is where eager cooks go to learn the building blocks, tricks and secrets of Italian cookery.

As well as the interactive itineraries, where visitors can wander through dedicated wine and cheese rooms, the classes are developed to complement local and seasonal produce.

Highlights on the cooking-class calendar include a sausage-and-salami-making class, a whole porchetta masterclass and pasta and pizza classes. It's roll-up-the-sleeves stuff that finishes with a communal lunch.

For more information about the classes on offer, see signorelli.com.au

Lucio's Pizza

30g salt

1kg ''00'' flour (depending on the strength)

2g fresh yeast

2 tbsp olive oil, extra for greasing

For the topping:

360g tin of good-quality Italian peeled tomatoes

460g fresh mozzarella

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large handful fresh basil leaves

60g finely grated parmesan

1 large handful rocket

60g parma prosciutto

1. To make the dough, pour 600ml of water into a mixer, add the salt and dissolve, then add 100g (½ cup) of the flour. Next, add the yeast. Set the mixer on its lowest speed and, slowly, slowly, add the rest of the flour until all the ingredients have come together. This process should not be rushed and must take about 10 minutes.

2. Continue to mix the dough on a low speed for about 20 minutes, or until the dough forms a single ball. The optimal consistency should be sticky, soft and elastic to touch.

3. First fermentation: Add the oil to a large bowl and grease it. Next add the dough, and leave it to rest, intact, for two hours, covered with a cloth.

After two hours, divide the dough into six balls (250 grams each).

4. Second fermentation: Transfer the dough balls to greased individual bowls and leave to rest at room temperature for four to six hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. After the second fermentation, gently remove the dough balls from each bowl using a spatula. Place them on the lightly-floured preparation bench and, using a motion from the centre outwards, and with only the pressure of the fingertips of both hands on the dough ball, turn the base over and around many times. In doing this, a disc of dough will be formed. Do not punch the air out of the dough - this is what makes the pizza base light and fluffy.

6. Preheat the oven to 240C. Transfer each prepared pizza base to a lightly floured baking tray. Divide the ingredients for the topping into six portions. First, spoon some of the tinned tomato on the pizza base, leaving a narrow border around the edge, and bake for five minutes. Turn the pizza around and cook for a further five minutes.

7. Remove the pizzas and scatter with the parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil. Return them to the oven and cook them for about five minutes or until base is golden. Remove from the oven and scatter with basil, leaves, fresh rocket and the prosciutto.

Makes 6 pizzas