Mamma Agata's Cooking School, Ravello, Italy!

I thought I’d kick off my blog with one of the yummiest and most beautiful experiences I’ve had in my lifetime so far – taking my mom (who is now a cook at a restaurant) to a cooking class at Mamma Agata’s in the town of Ravello.  Ravello was such a beautiful town, high above the Amalfi Coast, with the most amazing views. 

Mamma Agata is a cute lady who doesn’t speak any English (or maybe she does but doesn’t let on haha) and her daughter Chiara was our wonderful hostess.  Just hearing her speak was so cute and her story about how they began the cooking school was truly inspiring and is part of what led me to follow my passion and begin a career in travel!

We started off the morning with some famous lemon cake in the most beautiful outdoor dining room EVER, a walk through of the gardens (which do not look at all like gardens you would find here..amazingly built on the side of a cliff!!  We spent some time in the kitchen with Mamma, making a variety of different recipes, chopping veggies, making eggplant rolls, eggplant parmisiana, lemon chicken etc…and Mamma says to use your “ugly frying pan” everything tastes better in it! 

After cooking up a storm, we were served by Chiara’s husband Genarro, and got to eat it all while listening to Andrea Bocelli! There was SO much food, and trust me I love to eat, and even I couldn’t finish everything!  My favourite for sure though, was the Farmer’s Spaghetti!

Spaghetti del contadino — Farmer’s Spaghetti

Ingredients (Serves 4)

400 grams or 1 lb Spaghetti Pasta

1 kg or 1 ¼ lb Cherry Tomatoes (the riper the better)

1 Spoon or 1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley (finely chopped)

4 Large Spoons or 6 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 Cloves of Garlic

20 Green Olives (with or without pits)

20 Black Olives (with or without pits)

1 Large Spoon or 1 Tablespoon Capers

1 Small Spoon or 1 teaspoon dried Oregano

1 Cup Fresh Arugula Leaves (20 Leaves)

2 Pinches of Salt

Heat the olive oil and cloves of garlic over low

heat in a frying pan

Add the chopped cherry tomatoes and parsley

to the pan with the oregano, green and

black olives and the capers (rinse the salt brine

from the capers) - Cook for 5 minutes

Boil the pasta until it is cooked al dente, drain

and add the pasta to the frying pan with the

farmer’s sauce; stir the ingredients together,

adding the arugula leaves at the very end as

a garnish

Serve hot with a drizzle of olive oil to further

enhance the flavors in the dish!

Mamma Agata’s Secrets

The riper the cherry tomatoes, the sweeter and

more delicious they are in this recipe

Chop the cherry tomatoes into a bowl and

add the finely chopped parsley

Parsley is added to the tomatoes before

heating the tomatoes in the oil to enhance the

flavor of the tomatoes, as once the parsley

sautés in the hot oil, it will lose its flavor

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This and other great recipes can be found in their new cookbook – I bought it for my mom before going on our trip to get her excited about it, and even had it personally autographed and a message put in by Chiara herself welcoming my mom, it was great. 

If you would like to visit Mamma Agata’s – I can get you there! If you can’t travel to Ravello but want to learn how to cook like Mamma, check out her cookbook – you can buy clicking on the image below to get to their website, using code 001, and they’ll know I referred you!