Three hours in a flat on Via Galvani, in the middle of Testaccio, making fresh pasta by hand and the three sauces the quarter is known for. Then everybody sits down and eats what they cooked, with dessert and unlimited wine, and the recipes follow by email. Six people at most and two to book, which makes this the most personal morning gathered here.
Hours, prices and access verified by the Testaccio Food Tours team — last checked 2026-09-13.
Pasta shapes by hand, from flour and egg, with the hosts working beside you.
Three sauces, one family
Cacio e pepe, amatriciana and carbonara — the same larder, three different results.
Six people at most
A domestic kitchen rather than a school, so the pace is whatever your table needs.
Lunch, dessert and unlimited wine
You eat what you made, at the table you made it on, with the wine in the fare.
Rome's four famous pastas are variations on one another, and the quickest way to
understand that is to cook three of them in a row. Gricia is guanciale and pecorino. Take out the
guanciale and add black pepper and you have cacio e pepe; put it back and add tomato and you have
amatriciana; add egg yolk instead and you have carbonara. Doing it with your hands in the dough
teaches it in a way a tasting cannot.
It matters that this happens in Testaccio. Both of the ingredients these dishes rest on
— pecorino romano and cured pork cheek — are bought two minutes away at Mercato
Testaccio, and what to eat in Testaccio explains why the quarter
ended up with this particular larder. The Testaccio food and wine tours page gathers the other evenings and mornings
built around eating rather than cooking.
How the class runs
Via Galvani 4, buzzer eleven. A residential door two minutes from the market; you ring and are let in.
Pasta from scratch, by hand. Flour, egg and a board. You make several shapes rather than one.
Cacio e pepe. The hardest of the three, and the one that teaches emulsion.
Amatriciana and carbonara. Guanciale rendered properly, then tomato in one pan and egg yolk in the other.
Lunch, dessert and unlimited wine. Everybody sits down and eats what they cooked, with the hosts.
The recipes, by email. A PDF follows so you can repeat it at home while it is still fresh.
Who this suits, and who should book something else
Book this if
You want to take something home that is not in your
suitcase, you would rather sit than walk for three hours, or you are travelling with children
old enough to be trusted with a board. Reviewers who had made pasta before still came away with
techniques they had not met.
Book something else if
You are seriously allergic to dogs or cats: the
household keeps both, and it is said up front. You are travelling alone, since two
travellers are needed to book. Or you came for the market itself, in which case
the small-group market morning is
the walk you want.
What the fare covers
In the fare
Hands-on class making fresh pasta and three Roman sauces — carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana
Lunch of everything you cook
Dessert
Unlimited wine
Recipes as a PDF
Not in the fare
Hotel pick-up
Hotel drop-off
Finding Via Galvani 4
Via Galvani runs along one flank of Mercato Testaccio, so if you can find the market
you can find the class. The address is Via Galvani 4, Edificio C, and the buzzer is number
eleven: ring that one rather than the main street door and you will be let in.
From Piramide metro station on line B it is about eight minutes on the flat; trams 3 and 8
stop at Zabaglia, two minutes away. If you are taking an afternoon class, spend the morning at
the market first — the Mercato Testaccio page says what
to look for, and you will recognise half the ingredients when they appear on the board.
Know before you go
Two travellers minimum. The listing needs a booking of at least two; solo travellers should ask the operator.
Six at most. A domestic kitchen, so the class stays small by design.
A dog and a cat live here. The operator does not recommend it for travellers with serious animal allergies.
Tell them about diets at booking. Specific dietary requirements are asked for at the time of booking.
Wheelchair and stroller accessible. Both are stated, and the surfaces as well.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. One of the easier bookings here to move if your dates shift.
What travellers said about this kitchen
★★★★★
Testaccio food and cooking class · Roman pasta
Making pasta and sauces in the hosts' own home was the part she remembers, and eating what they made afterwards. Cacio e pepe, amatriciana and carbonara were all walked through step by step.
michelle g. · Couple · January 2026
★★★★★
Testaccio food and cooking class · Roman pasta
She had made pasta at home many times and still came away with techniques she had not met before. Her husband and adult son enjoyed it as much, which does not always happen.
Jennifer T. · Family · January 2026
★★★★★
Testaccio food and cooking class · Roman pasta
A warm, welcoming kitchen and hosts who happen to make very good pasta. She calls it the easiest way to learn traditional Roman cooking properly.
On most of these, yes. The Testaccio market mornings run to fourteen tastings across eight places with a sit-down pasta lunch, and several Trastevere evenings include a full course. A handful are tasting walks rather than meals, and those cards say so. Come hungry either way: guides here say it more often than anything else.
Is wine included?
It depends on the listing, and the difference is bigger than the price gap suggests. Some pour freely at every venue, some give you a single glass, some include beer or a soft drink instead, and a couple exclude drinks entirely. Each card carries the listing's own wording, and the food and wine tours page gathers the ones that pour.
How many people will be on the walk with me?
The caps published on these listings run from six to twenty, and most sit between eight and fifteen. The cooking class takes six, one small-group walk takes eight, and the private ones take nobody but your party. Where a listing states a cap it is on the card; where it states none, the card leaves that row out rather than guessing.
Can a vegetarian or a vegan take a food tour in Testaccio?
Vegetarians are catered for on most of these, usually if you say so when you book. Vegans and travellers with coeliac disease are harder: several listings state plainly that they cannot accommodate either, and one of the market mornings warns of gluten cross-contamination. The cooking class and one Testaccio walk are the more flexible options, and every listing asks for dietary notes at the time of booking.
What should I eat in Testaccio?
Start with cacio e pepe, gricia, amatriciana and carbonara, the four pasta dishes this quarter is credited with. Add supplì, pizza bianca with mortadella, a fried artichoke when they are in season, and a maritozzo split and filled with cream for breakfast. The what-to-eat page takes each one in turn and says which listings put it in front of you.
Can I see the market where these ingredients come from?
Yes, and it is two minutes away. The small-group Testaccio market morning spends an hour and a half inside Mercato Testaccio with fourteen tastings and a sit-down lunch. Take it the morning before the class and you will recognise everything on the board.
