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If you are visiting Italy, you have to take a cooking class…specifically, a pizza cooking class. You probably knew that pizza originated in Italy, but do you know exactly where in this country it came from?
If you guessed Naples, you are right! Pizza is practically a religion in this part of Italy. This blog post talks about my experience at an authentic Italian family farm in Sorrento as I learned the family’s pizza making recipe. The owner, Francesco, takes you inside his family business and helps you become a pizza-making pro.
- This was a sponsored tour with Get Your Guide – however, all opinions are my own.
If you asked 100 different families in Naples how to make the best pizza, you would get 100 different recipes. Francesco taught us that everyone in Naples learns how to make pizza around age 8. One of his daughters was 12, and she was basically a pro already!
Intro to The Best Pizza Making Class in Sorrento
I did the Sorrento: Pizza Lesson, Wine, and Limoncello at a Local Farm tour with Get Your Guide. I can honestly say this was one of my favorite things I did in Italy. This tour takes you into Francesco’s family farm and teaches you his authentic family pizza recipe. His daughters help teach you how to make the pizza, and they’re adorable and so fun!
As good as the pizza is, Francesco and his family are really what makes this experience special. They are animated, funny, and passionate about what they do. Oh – and they know how to make an incredible pizza.
Getting to the Family Farm in Sorrento
One of the things I love about Get Your Guide is that transportation is always arranged for you. Your meeting place will be laid out in the instructions after you purchase your ticket to go.
When I did this tour, our guide picked my group up in 2 separate vans. It takes about 20-25 minutes from the meeting point to arrive at the farm. The drive up is beautiful – you go up a mountain and get to see Sorrento and the Gulf of Naples from way high up. However, the road is very windy with a lot of twists and turns. If you’re prone to motion sickness, make sure you pack some Dramamine in your travel medicine bag!
- Pro Tip: Bring a jacket! The farm is on top of a mountain in Sorrento, and it got cold once the sun went down…even in May!
The Best Pizza Making Class in Sorrento
Meeting the Family/Seeing the Farm
Once you arrive at the farm, you will get introduced to Francesco and his family. You will then have about 10-15 minutes to look around the farm. You’ve probably already guessed this, but it’s adorable. What’s even more adorable – and impressive!– is that Francesco and his family built it all themselves.
Listening to Francesco tell the story of how he took a huge risk to build this farm and follow his dream was so inspiring. (And considering this is one of the top-ranked Get Your Guide experiences, it’s safe to say the risk is paying off!)
Learning the Pizza Recipe
After you explore the farm, you get to learn the most important part: the recipe! Francesco has the recipe written down in the front of the kitchen so you are able to snap a photo and use it for the rest of your life.
It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Not only do you get to learn to make pizza, but you now have an authentic Italian pizza recipe that you can use and perfect back home!
Francesco explains each part of the recipe and why each ingredient is important. The main takeaway I got was the water needs to be room temperature. He also explains the fermentation process and the science behind pizza making.
- Pro Tip: The class starts with learning how to make pizza dough using flour, yeast, salt, and water. This is NOT the dough you will eat because it has to rise for at least 24 hours, but you still learn the process! The dough you use to make your pizza has been made by Francesco’s family the night before.
Making the Pizza
Okay, now for the fun part! (Or, is the fun part eating? I digress…)
Next, the family takes you outside and has you prepare the dough they made the night before into pizza. You learn how to spin the pizza dough (it’s surprisingly not as hard as it looks!), and then add sauce, cheese, and olive oil.
- Pro Tip: Francesco’s daughters are there to help you every step of the way. Not only are they pros at making pizza, they’re also pros at taking photos! I was so excited that I had so many good pictures taken during this part of my trip.
Afterwards, you bake the pizza in an oven that is over 1000° F. Needless to say, the pizza is only inside for 1-2 minutes, so you don’t have to wait long before tasting all your hard work!
“Mangia!” And Now, We Eat!
I can honestly say that this homemade pizza was one of my favorite meals I had in the Amalfi Coast. Everything we used was grown from the family’s farm right on the property and was so fresh and good. The consistency was perfect and it had amazing flavor. We also had red wine to go with our pizza (well…and water, but you know we prioritized the wine).
After we ate our pizza, they brought out some antipasta consisting of meats and cheeses, also from the farm. We also got a small dessert to eat. The final treat was, of course, limoncello that was made by the family’s grandmother. I don’t even like lemons, and this was the best limoncello I had.
One of my favorite things about this tour was getting to sit and eat with everyone in my group like we were one, big, happy Italian family. Except, of course, everyone was from all over the world!
Summary of My Sorrento Pizza Making Class Review
Overall, I absolutely loved this class. It was definitely one of my favorite things I did on the Amalfi Coast. I loved Francesco and his family. They had the best personalities and made the class so fun with their excitement and energy.
You can tell how passionate the family is about what they do, which, IMO, makes it even more special. They really put their heart and soul into the farm, the food, and the class.
Make sure to book this pizza class if you want to have the time of your life in Sorrento!
