Cooking at La Rampolina, June 17, 2025

Italy, Lake Maggiore, Photography, Stresa, Travel by photosbycappy

Tuesday, June 17th, our final full day on this wonderful Smithsonian tour. It was planned to be a leisurely day. We departed our hotel on our bus around 10AM. We were on our way, up hill, to La Rampolina restaurant where we were scheduled to take a cooking class and enjoy a pleasant lunch.

Exterior view of a restaurant with a striped facade, surrounded by greenery and flowers, under a clear blue sky.

The view from on high was wonderful. Have a look. In the foreground is Fishermen’s Island and in the distance is Isola Madre.

A scenic view overlooking a lake with an island featuring quaint buildings and lush trees, surrounded by distant hills.

Then we took seats to learn how to make potato gnocchi. First, a shot of our group as we patiently waited for our class to begin.

A group of people seated outdoors under umbrellas, wearing aprons, while waiting for a cooking class on making potato gnocchi.

Gnocchi: start with boiled potatoes and “rice” them. To do that you use a ricer. Here is a photo of our instructor with his equipment as he squeezes the potatoes through.

A chef wearing gloves demonstrates how to rice boiled potatoes at a cooking class, with kitchen equipment and a vibrant outdoor setting in the background.

Gnocchi really is a simple pasta to make; potatoes, a little flour, a couple of eggs and, of course, a pinch of salt. After ricing the potatoes form them into the shape of a volcanic crater and add the two eggs into the vent. Then start to knead the mixture gradually adding your flour and salt.

A chef with curly hair kneading dough on a wooden surface, wearing a black apron and blue gloves, surrounded by greenery.

Don’t over do the kneading, get to the point where you have throughly mixed your ingredients and can start to roll the mixture into long snakelike tubes. To do this, take a portion of your dough and begin rolling. Then, cut your mixture into the little puffy pillows that we all know as delicious Gnocchi pasta.

A culinary instructor preparing gnocchi on a wooden surface, wearing gloves and an apron, with greenery and scenic background.

Susanne decided to give it a try.

A woman in sunglasses and an apron is preparing potato gnocchi at an outdoor cooking class, using a wooden board and ingredients on a table under a tree.

Then it was on to making Tiramisu, the dessert of the day. Tiramisu is a mixture of eggs, sugar, mascarpone cheese and ladyfingers with a hint of cocoa and sweetened coffee. Here are two photos of Reinhard engaged in the process. In the photo on the left he is adding the ladyfingers to the whipped mascarpone and eggs to form his first layer and on the right he is beginning his next layer.

A chef in a white shirt and black gloves prepares Tiramisu in an outdoor setting, surrounded by plants and a sunny sky.
A man in a light gray polo shirt carefully pours ingredients into a glass container while wearing gloves, surrounded by greenery.

The restaurant, overlooking Lake Maggiori, was quite lovely

Outdoor dining area of a restaurant with wooden floors and tables set with flowers and tableware.

We all strolled in to pick seats for our upcoming lunch of gnocchi in a delicious tomato gravy (you may call it sauce if you prefer) followed by an equally delectable filet of veal. Then, of course, there was tiramisu!

A group of people gathering at a restaurant terrace overlooking a scenic view of Lake Maggiore, with tables set for a cooking class.

Before saying goodbye to La Rampolina, I took two more photos of the view. First, Isola Bella.

Aerial view of Fishermen's Island with lush greenery, buildings, and boats in the water, set against a backdrop of hills and blue sky.

Then Stresa.

A panoramic view of a lakeside town featuring lush greenery and buildings along the shoreline, with boats visible on the water.

All too soon we were back at La Palma, confronted with the task of packing as tomorrow our tour comes to an end. JoAnn and I, however, have two additional days planned for Milan. We will be staying at the Marriott Hotel at Malpensa. See you then.

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