After having an amazing experience at a farm-to-table restaurant in South Africa I knew I wanted to find one in Italy when I started planning my trip. I came across Podere Il Casale online and after reading the reviews I knew I had to try it ( and I’m so glad I did ).
When we arrived at the farm we were given a tour of the property which included the animals, and the cheese making process. After the tour we were brought to the outdoor seating area for lunch - what a view!
We ordered the sheep's and goat's milk cheese sample tray to start and we were told in which order to eat the different cheeses to better appreciate their flavours. It was so much more enjoyable to eat after having watched how the cheese was made. We then had the melon gazpacho with barley, cucumber, feta style cheese and mint (delicious!). We tried 2 different pastas - the first was tortellini pasta with porcini mushrooms, zucchini flowers, lardo and thyme. The second was pici pasta with chickpea flour, eggplant purée, quark and rosemary bread crumbs. Both were amazing but the eggplant pasta was so unique in its flavour and ended up being one of the best pasta dishes of my entire trip! We had the panna cotta for dessert and that did not disappoint either.
Other than touring the farm there are other activities offered like pizza making classes and Italian cooking classes. We were on a tight schedule and unfortunately couldn’t take one of the classes but hopefully we will come back one day and spend more time at this amazing farm.
