Enrica Rocca Cooking School

The Lowdown

Want to learn to make pasta? Of course you do. Then your first port of call should be the Enrica Rocca Cooking school in Ladbroke Grove. Started by Enrica, and now lead by her two daughters Charlotte and Claire, a day spent in their tutelage is a great way to get on the pasta ladder.

The Format

A 10am start and you’re off wandering Portobello market and Golborne road, buying supplies (veg, meat, seafood), while learning how to choose the best/freshest products along the way. If you live in the area, this is especially useful. Prefer scallops over prawns? Always wanted to make stuffed sea bass? No problem. That’s the great thing about this class – the menu isn’t set, you decide what to make as a group.

The Class Environment

Banish thoughts of notepads and pencils in a classroom, YAWN! Here it’s hands on from the start. After you trawl the market and get to know your classmates, you’ll head back to their Ladbroke Grove abode (literally, this is their home and it’s very welcoming). Pull up a stool and unpack your purchases, roll up your sleeves and have a glass of Prosecco (a good, imported one); it’s cooking time. UJ loved the atmosphere here.

What We Made

To start: bruschetta and a beetroot, broad bean and onion dip. Then we moved on to grilled squid with red chilli dressing, kohlrabi carpaccio (loved), aubergine rolls, oven baked sea bass (amazing), lamb, asparagus with truffle oil and then the main event – homemade tagliatelle with prawn sauce. All made by 4pm. There was red wine with lunch, and laughs throughout. We even made a quick non-planned tiramisu at the end because a couple on the course needed something to bring to a dinner party they were going to – it really is that kind of place.

Class Options

Can’t do a full day course? They have Thursday evening pasta making courses and Sunday wine and cheese or brunch courses, as well as other private options.

Anything Else?

There are great tips flying around on the day; we now want to get to Mercato Metropolitano for Italian everything, and also Venice to try their other cooking school, which their seemingly very charismatic mother heads up. Follow them on Instagram for great inspiration – we saw homemade truffle brie coming in last weekend, yes please.