Nicola deftly slid the Margherita pizza from the pizza peel into his large wood-fired oven. Flames danced and crackled. The dough crusted and browned. Cheese melted and blistered. Ninety seconds after he put the pizza in, Nicola took it out and slipped it, still steaming, on a plate.
Nicola’s wife Andreina cut through the crispy crust twice, making four quarters. The cheese melted back together and dripped on the plate.
“Mangia! Mangia!” She said to my husband Matt and me, “Buon appetito!”
We were in their expansive garden in Minori, a village ten minutes south of Amalfi and a world away from the tourist hordes there. Nicola and Andreina’s hillside terraces overlook the dramatic coastline but we did not come for the view. We came to learn how to make pizza.
Months earlier, I had Googled “pizza making class in Amalfi.” One result asked: Would you like to get your hands dirty with flour and prepare your very own pizza? Sì, certo. Clicking through I found BonAppetour, “A community marketplace that connects travelers with local home chefs for a unique home-dining experience, anywhere around the world.” Andreina and Nicola were available the one day we were in Amalfi while on a cruise.
Their host name, Sotto i Limoni, (Under the Lemons) refers to their large lemon grove, under which they also grow vegetables. Andreina greeted us with fresh lemonade when we arrived. After a brief visit in their huge outdoor kitchen, the four of us donned aprons and got our hands dirty making pizza dough.
Nicola then gave us a tour of their many-leveled garden as we picked tomatoes, peppers, onions, and basil for our pizzas. Unruly grapevines grew on overhead trellises. Walnuts in their shells hung in bags under walnut trees. Nicola cracked some with a hammer on a wood stump and handed them to us to eat.
“You taste the difference,” he said as we tried both, “this year’s walnuts taste bitter. They are not ready yet.” He set some of last year’s walnuts aside for our pizza.
We sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, pinched sausage bundles, and cut tomatoes for toppings. We squished San Marzano tomatoes (they are the best) to make pizza sauce.
In Nicola’s secret wine cellar he poured me a lovely white wine from the tank. He makes both red and a white using a wood press. Big plastic tubs lined the shelves above. Empty bottles stacked up waited to be filled. He smiled and downplayed his wine-making skills.
Back on the patio, Nicola taught us how to stretch out pizza dough. He pressed from the center and let the dough hang over the counter. “You could toss it,” he said, “but then you might drop it.”
He made a Margherita first, my favorite. I ate a piece watching Matt stretch his dough. He made sausage, tomatoes, and peppers. My turn came and Nicola intervened to help my lost cause. It eventually became a white pizza with gorgonzola cheese and walnuts topped with lettuce. My new favorite. Nicola kept making pizzas, finishing with a spectacular Nutella dessert pizza drizzled with limoncello.
The four of us finally sat down together to eat, the three of us having nibbled while Nicola was making pizzas. We drank Nicola’s homemade wine. Their fifteen year old son Daniele returned from school and joined us, eating pizza as only a young man could. He opened a bottle of Prosecco for us. “Auguri!” (best wishes)
Andreina brought out a delicious homemade lemon tart we finished in minutes despite all the pizzas we’d eaten. Nicola poured us a Cicerenella, a local herbal liquor made with anise and orange flavors.
“Aijz, aijz, aijz,” they taught us to say in dialect as we raised our glasses together.“Avasc, avasc, avasc,” we repeated as we lowered them.
“Accost, accost, accost,” we put them together.
“A salùt nost!” we toasted and drank.
Their homemade limoncello came last. Made with the famous and geographically protected Limone Costa d’Amalfi, it was the best we’ve ever had—and we’ve had a lot.
Five hours after we arrived, we left Nicola, Andreina, and Daniele, knowing how to make pizza. And we felt like we had spent the afternoon with good friends.
Try BonAppetour and save $10 on your next home-dining experience. (Full disclosure, I’ll get a $10 credit too!)
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