The joy of combining great food with brilliant wine was evident on the faces of every one of the participants at Katrina Pizzini’s cooking school in the King Valley, writes VANESSA HAYDEN.
As the 10 of us sat down to our lunch in the beautiful surrounds of one of King Valley’s premier wineries it was with a great sense of satisfaction - we had played a big part in the making of the two pasta’s, three sauces and one risotto we were about to enjoy.
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And for me, the great mystery of how to make good potato Gnocchi was totally debunked.
I had finally joined the pasta, gnocchi and risotto class at Katrina Pizzini’s A Tavola! Cooking School after hearing constantly good reviews about it for years.
Participants meet at Pizzini at 10am for a tea or coffee and to meet Katrina and the other class members before eagerly donning aprons and joining Katrina in her purpose built kitchen. Time whizzes by as we are combining, rolling and stirring our ingredients, with the ultimate challenge of mastering the pasta making machine to produce tagliatelle.
Throughout the morning Katrina is sharing stories about the Pizzini family, their origins, her mother-in-law Rosetta’s famous cooking prowess, the beauty of cooking with fresh ingredients and of course the secrets to producing beautiful food.
It’s no wonder classes fill quickly and often many weeks in advance.
On our menu for today was:
- Fred’s Prawn Risotto
- Pasta dough
- Katrina’s Bolognaise
- Pistachio and almond pesto
- Pepperonata
- Potato Gnocchi
We down tools at around 12.30pm and are escorted out to the cellar door where dynamo sommelier Rob Wellard takes us on another journey through Pizzini’s (albeit short in comparison to some wine regions) 25 year wine-making history.
Katrina and Alfredo Pizzini built Pizzini Wines based on their passions and their commitment to family and Pizzini’s Italian heritage. Their winemaking dream began in 1978 when they planted their first vines, then in 1994 their first wine under the Pizzini label was produced. Today their four adult children Natalie, Joel, Carlo and Nicole all work in the business alongside Alfredo and Katrina.
The multi-award winning winery produces prosecco, pinot grigio, riesling, verduzzo, verdicchio, a range of rosés, sangiovese, merlot, shiraz, barbera, nebbiolo and several other varieties!
The four hour cooking school was $145 ($135 members) and in addition to the pasta, gnocchi and risotto class there are others to choose from including:
- Lunching, Ladies and Lads - a combination of all the cooking classes where you’ll prepare an entree, main and dessert.
- Antipasti, tapas and dumplings
- Pasta and Pizza
- Whistle stop tour of street food
- Salting, smoking and curing
Lunch was scrumptious, matched with a glass of wine of our choice and enjoyed in the beautiful surrounds of Pizzini’s winery.
Top Tip: If you are joining a cooking class I strongly recommend you stay in the valley on the night after the cooking school to really make the most of the day and all it has to offer. Why not make it two nights, there's plenty to see and do in the King Valley.
