An Agriturismo farm tour in Bologna (cooking class & local specialties)

After spending some time exploring all the attractions of Bologna from the outdoor markets, the iconic two towers or Bologna, my first impression of visiting the city and eating all the delicous food was cemented into my foodie brain. But now it was time to explore the farms or agriturismo and do an authentic Bologna cooking class with a master.

One of my favorite experiences while visiting Bologna was this wonderful visit and cooking class at a local Agriturismo (BnB style inn with a farm) just outside the city outskirts of Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.

Organized by Bologna Welcome, the visit to Podere San Giuliano was a total immersion into local farming and the complete farm to table concept that is also well-known world-wide as Slow food. Owner/chef and farmer Federica Frattini is the daughter of many familial generations of farmers of this fertile land where they grow most of the food consumed at the inn, restaurant and food for their guests.

Along with the food that is grown on the property, they also diversify their product niche into: growing wine grapes for sale to various wine producers,  they sell produce to various restaurants and businesses in Bologna and they also create a line of finished food products used at the inn and for resale at various outlets.

 

A fun cooking class outside Bologna

 

 

Chef Federica is one of those young and energetic chef/entrepreneurs that have taken on the family business and created a variety of enterprises that are sustainable and create many income streams that follow their heritage while forging new practices and markets in the region.

 

A tour of the agriturismo and farm at San Giuliano

After a quick meet and greet with the chef, we quickly went outdoors to tour the farm and to see what is still in season this late in the harvest timeframe and to get a nice view of the landscape surrounding Podere San Giuliano.

This tract of land is on flat and fertile terrain that has been lovingly cared for by generations of the same family. Now under chef Federica and her husband Adrea’s care along with just one farmer and occasional help, she is able to take care of this large and productive garden for producing their own vegetables and fruits for the inn along with the restaurant.

We walk along the area in back of the inn and immediate come across a group of fruit trees with these dangling globes of large and apple looking fruit which turns out to be persimmons, and they are just about ready to be picked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s fantastic to visit this working farm and see what is ready to harvest on an late summer visit to the area and we gathered a lot of fantastic ingredients to use for the cooking class that proceeds after the tour of the farm.

 

 

 

 

Aren’t these eggplants beautiful?

 

 

Let’s get something fresh in the garden to cook with today

 

 

 

 

 Fresh fennel root being harvested for today’s meal

 

Starting the agriturismo cooking class with local specialty dishes

Now that we collected some of today’s finds from the garden, we head back into the inn’s kitchen to get started with today’s cooking lesson. Chef gives me a quick itinerary of what we will be learning to make for today’s lunch for all the workers at the farm and inn.

These include some of their favorite dishes and local Bologna specialties that are made at the farm and at certain times of the year. This includes:

Freshly made tortelloni with pumpkin filling

Large sized meatballs in Bolognese sauce

Mini tortellini in a simple soup broth

Tagliattele with Bolognese sauce

 

 

 Making the pasta dough

It is slow and methodical with quality ingredients from the area, basically local flour and eggs sourced locally. It starts with a mound of flour with a cavity in the middle for the eggs and chef Federica quickly mixes the eggs and starts folding the flour into the mixture until it starts to form a gooey to crumbly consistency.

After using a wisk to combine the ingredients, the pasta is worked by hand slowly and eventually shaped into a nice past dough ball and then wrapped and refrigerated.

 

 

Rolling and cutting pasta dough

 

 

Once the dough is ready, it is rolled out and cut into equal square sized pasta squares for making the famous tortellini from Bologna and then it is stuffed with a variety of fillings. This can include seasonal favorites like sweet pumpkin for the fall or the traditional meats: combined ground up pork, beef and veal. After watching a quick demo of how to fill and then fold the tortellini into form, I first did the larger sized version with the delicious pumpkin filling and did a reasonable job with my samples. It wasn’t until I saw how the smaller tortellini were folded, that I realized how crazy and difficult it was to actually make this pasta by hand especially with the quantity required to make enough servings of the famous Bolognese tortellini and broth dishes.

 

Cutting the dough into tagliatelle pasta

Making miniature tortellini pasta 

 

 

Chef with the mornings miniature tortellini, all hand-made including some of my pathetic attempts of creating these mini pasta wonders. In a world of machine-made Italian pasta, Bolognese pride themselves with actually still making and selling pasta that is hand-made vs. machine-made – a very rare commodity even in Italian marketplaces.

 

 

 Making large tortellini with pumpkin filling

 

 

 

After the larger pasta dough is cut into larger square shapes, it’s time to fill the dough and twist and pinch the edges into a triangle and shaped into the large tortelloni. This is definitely a lot easier to do than the mini filled tortellini which takes a lot of practice along with energy to make the hundreds of tiny tortellini pasta.

 

 

Preparing the Bolognese sauce

Afterwards, chef Fedrica gave a demonstration of the polpette  made with a combination of ground veal, beef and pork and then mixed in with herbs and spices from the garden, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and dry breadcrumbs into a bowl. I helped to shape these extra large meatballs into place and they looked really good and savory.  The Bolognese sauce was also prepared for both this dish and the pasta tagliatelle dish which would be our main pasta for lunch along with the tortellini soup broth.  As an added treat, chef Federica demonstrated making the larger tortelloni with sweet pumpkin filling which they typically serve during the fall season and from all the pumpkins they typically harvest during the season, it was a treat to get a first taste of their freshly made pumpkin filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am sautéing the Bolognese with the sous chef

 

 

Sauteing the meatballs and Bolognese sauce

 

Mangia – time to eat delicious home cooked food

Finally we get to eat all the amazing foods that we were able to make in the kitchen in a relatively short timeframe, with a few shortcuts all ready done before I came for my visit. We were all seated around one of the dining room round tables, mostly the staff and myself including Chef Frederica’s father who always comes by for the daily meal and chat with the staff. There’s nothing like sharing a meal with an Italian family because you know that it was all made with love of growing, harvesting and then cooking the food from your land and sharing it with family and friends that are visiting this inn.

 

 

This is what we feasted on for our amazing lunch at Podere San Giuliano:

 

 

 

 The pasta is delicious – magnifico!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion to the farm tour and cooking class

I had an amazing day at Podere San Giuliano touring the farm with Chef Federica and cooking up a storm in her kitchen along with her sous chef. It was truly an authentic experience understanding the farm to table concept done so well at this farm in Bologna.

The Podere San Giuliano offers simple rooms to also stay at the farm and enjoy an overnight stay along with the fun tour and cooking class. You can check for availabiity at their website here for more information and booking a stay.

Where to stay around Bologna

There’s so many fantastic choices of places to enjoy and base yourself in the city which is walkable, so being central is key in visiting all the main attractions and markets in town. Here are some of our favorites below.

Hotel Touring

Located in the historic district and a four star hotel with excellent and comfortable rooms, breakfast service and even a top level hot tub with views for soaking away your tired feet at the end of the day.

Savoia Hotel Regency

Located in a two hectare park, gorgeous swimming pool and grounds, this elegant boutique hotel is comfortable, family friendly and includes a breakfast service. In a more quiet and residential area but still accessible to public transportation, it is a haven in a dense and noisy city to explore and base yourself in.

UnaHotels Bologna Centro

Located next to the central railway station and a short walk to the historic district, the convenience of this modern and comfortable hotel makes it an easy stay at very affordable prices.

Check out some of these other best rated hotels and inns here for current prices and availability while staying in Bologna.

 

 

If you enjoyed the post, please check out these other posts of Bologna

Visiting Bologna’s outdoor markets and specialty food venues

A first impression of Bologna

The towers of Bologna

Touring Bologna at night time

 

Conclusion to visiting an Agriturismo farm in Bologna

Thanks for joining us on this Agriturismo farm tour and cooking class in Bologna with chef Frattini at Podere San Giuliano. If you want to visit the agriturismo for a stay, dinner or even a cooking class, check out their website here for more details. Thank you Bologna Welcome and Podere San Giuliano for the tour and cooking class, all thoughts and opinions are my own and I had a wonderful visit and lesson, not to mention some delicious food.

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