Abruzzo Cooking and Hiking Adventure...Cooking Vacations...Culinary Getaways...Cooking Classes!

Abruzzo Cooking and Hiking Adventure

Contact Information:
39-3922220597

Location:
Lucoli, Abruzzo, Italy

Culinary Category:
Cooking Classes
Cooking Demonstrations
Guided Culinary Tours
Culinary Vacation

Culinary Focus:
Italian

Abruzzo is outside of the classic “touristy” areas, and for this reason you will be able to appreciate the real Italian lifestyle, enjoying simple people and ancient traditions. You will stay with us immersed in the countryside close to L’Aquila, the capital region. We are surrounded by forests and mountains, nature and silence, crossed by the paths of rural history. Your holiday will be full of “Italian cooking style” experiences that we will share together as you discover the unique characteristics of classic Italian cooking and genuine tastes. For those who love the mountains, we will embark upon hiking tours to admire the unchanged beauty of the Abruzzo countryside.

We will live this experience in “Le Fornacelle”, a villa at the gates of Colle di Lucoli set in a valley that unites the high plain of Campo Felice (1,600 meters above sea level), with the city of L’Aquila. Every day we will prepare some of the typical dishes of Italian cooking. We will have at our disposal all the necessary facilities to create our preferred courses so that you can fully appreciate the uniqueness of this food. Each day you will be able to enjoy the tranquility, the silence, and the magnificent views from the terraces that surround the villa. Every evening we can gather together in front of the fireplace for a chat, a barbecue, watch movies, and listen to relaxing music in the living room of the Le Fornacelle villa.

Sample Itinerary

Day One: Transfer to “Le Fornacelle di Lucoli” in Abruzzo

Pick up from Rome airport, transfer to Lucoli and your accommodations at the Le Fornacelle di Lucoli villa. Relax on the terraces that surround the villa in anticipation of our first meal. Prior to dinner, we will share our first cooking experience together with dinner preparation. We will organize the menu for dinner, choosing what you would prefer…fettuccine with porcini mushrooms, amatricina, carbonara or handmade ravioli with fresh pasta…and more!

Day Two: Gran Sasso Tour

After breakfast, we will cross by minibus the plateau of the Gran Sasso National Park where we can admire the beauty of the wildlife enriched landscape. We will enjoy lunch in this mountain refuge with fresh mozzarella, salami, sausages and arrosticini that we will cook ourselves on the barbecue. The afternoon will be spent crossing the other side of the Gran Sasso plateau where we will visit Santo Stefano di Sessanio and Rocca Calascio, a magnificent fortress with a wonderful view of the entire valley. Come back home and relax prior to dinner, when we will engage in our second cooking experience together.

Day Three: Campo Felice Hiking Tour in the Vincenzo Sebastiani Mountain Refuge

Breakfast at the villa, then transfer to Campo Felice where we will hike for three to four hours up to the refuge Vincenzo Sebastiani (2,102 meters). During our hike we will have a basket lunch. In the refuge waiting for the night stars, we can rest up until dinner and our overnight stay in the refuge’s common big room with our sleeping bags. An official mountain guide will stay with us during all the hiking to ensure our safety.

Day Four: Campo Felice Hiking Tour to Punta Trento

Breakfast in the refuge, then hike for approximately two hours to Punta Trento (2,243 meters) to admire the magnificent view of the valley. In two hours we come back to the parking area and return home where we will have lunch. In the afternoon we will relax on the terraces surrounding the villa waiting for dinner. Before dinner, we will choose the menu, and share our third cooking experience together.

Day Five: L’Aquila Bominaco and Fontecchio Tour and Walking

Breakfast at the villa, then transfer to L’Aquila for a walking discovery of the old City Centre, the Central Market, Collemaggio Abbey, the Spanish Castle and 99 Cannelle Fountain. During the walking tour, we will have a basket lunch. In the afternoon we will visit the Caves of Stiffe, Santa Maria Assunta with the Oratorio di San Pellegrino in Bominaco and Fontecchio medieval village. A bilingual Italian-English guide will be with us to explain the history and the artistic aspects. In the afternoon we will come back to the villa and relax in the garden until dinner. Before dinner we will choose the menu, and enjoy our fourth cooking experience together.

Day Six: Lucoli Hiking Tour

After breakfast at the villa, we will watch the homemade craft of producing fresh mozzarella and cheese in a family-run factory…with the opportunity to taste the products just prepared. Then we will hike the Lucoli area, including the beautiful countryside, the Beata Cristina church, the S. Giovanni Battista Abbey, and up to San Michele Church on the top of the hill overlooking the Lucoli valley. Lunch will be back at the villa, where we’ll relax in the garden until dinner. Before dinner we will choose the menu, and enjoy our fifth cooking experience together.

Day Seven: Majella Hiking: Orfento Wildlife Reserve and S. Bartolomeo in Legio Retreat

After breakfast at the villa, we are off to Caramanico Terme and hiking for two hours in the wildlife reserve of Orfento valley in the Majella National Park; basket lunch break and two hours hiking to S. Bartolomeo in Legio Retreat. In the afternoon, we will come back to the villa and relax before enjoying our sixth cooking experience together, along with our farewell dinner.

Day Eight: Transfer from Le Fornacelle di Lucoli back to Rome

Breakfast at the villa, then transfer to the Rome airport.

Note: Epitourean, LLC provides a referral service for operators of culinary classes, vacations, cruises, schools and demonstrations. We cannot be held responsible for variations in descriptions, courses offered, changes to dates and/or prices provided by the operators.

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Recipe

SAGNETTE PASTA WITH CHICK-PEAS, CHESTNUTS, DRIED RICOTTA AND PECORINO CHEESE

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 ⅓ Cups (300 grams) Sagnette pasta, water and flour

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

½ hot Italian fresh pepper chili

2 cloves of garlic

1 ¾ Cups (400 grams) chick-peas

Fresh rosemary

4 bay leaves

4 little fresh tomatoes

20 chestnuts roasted or boiled

Grated pecorino cheese

Dried ricotta cheese in slivers

Directions:

Soak chick peas and chestnuts in cold water with two bay leaves for one day in advance if the chick-peas and the chestnuts are dried. If the chestnuts are frozen, boil in water for 15 minutes.

Crush the garlic and fry it on low heat slowly in one frying pan with the extra virgin olive oil and a little hot Italian pepper chilli; be careful to not burn it. Add water, salt, rosemary, two bay leaves, fresh tomatoes cut into pieces and boil.

When the chick-peas are almost cooked, in another pot when the water is boiling, add the sagnette for one minute until you see the water becomes almost white from the starch and flour. Drain the sagnette and add to the pot where the chick-peas, the chestnuts in pieces are cooking and stir continually until all becomes creamy.

Turn off the heat and wait five minutes, stirring with a spoon to refresh the soup. serve in plates with grated pecorino cheese, dried ricotta cheese shaved into slivers and extra virgin olive oil.

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