Silvana Lanzetta
Artisan Pasta Maker & Teacher - Food WriterHave you been to Italy and loved the fresh pasta you ate there? Would you love to keep eating that yumminess at home, but can’t find the same quality and delicious taste anywhere else?
Don’t worry: you are in the right place!
Ciao! I’m Silvana, a 4th generation artisan pasta maker from Naples, currently living in London.
My great grandad started a pastificio in Torre Annunziata (a town next to Pompeii) back in 1893. His daughter, my beloved nonna Rosa, took over in 1927.
I came in the picture a several decades later: when I was a teensy weensy 5 year old, my nonna decided I was a bit of an handful, and put me to make pasta in order to save the house from destruction!
As I grew up, I also helped in the pastificio, until it sadly closed in 1995.
I started teaching how to make pasta quite a few years later, in 2013, because I was frustrated by the confusion and misinformation there is around pasta, pasta making, and Italian food in general.
To this day, my biggest achievements are: appearing on BBC2 as a pasta expert, publishing recipes on The Local Italy, holding pasta making demonstrations in Harrods, and being included in a roundup of best workshops in Britain by the newspaper “i.”
Some Of My Favourite Things
My Favourite Books
- Needful Things (S. King)
- The Alchemist (P. Coelo)
- Orlando (V. Woolf)
- Les Miserables (V. Hugo)
- Neverending Story (M. Ende)
- The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
- The Baron in the Trees (I. Calvino)
My Favourite Italian Holiday Destinations
- Ravello
- Rimini
- Agropoli
- Santa Margherita Ligure
- Gaeta
- Castiglione sul Lago
My Favourite Food
- Tomatoes
- Buffalo Mozzarella
- Parma Ham
- Piadina
- Gnocchi
- Pizza
My Favourite Colours
- Maroon
- Carmine Red
- Imperial Purple
- Orange
- Yellow
- Black
- Gold
My Favourite Italian Singers
- Pino Daniele
- Zucchero
- Mina
- Lucio Dalla
- Gianna Nannini
- Eduardo Bennato
My Favourite International Cuisines
- Japanese
- Moroccan
- French
- Swedish
- Greek
- Indian
Languages I Speak
- Italian (of course!)
- English
- French
- Spanish (badly)
- Swedish (even worse!)
My Favourite Pasta Tools
- Stackable Drying Tray
- Wooden Rolling Pin (100cm)
- Wooden Board
- Brass Wheel Cutters
- Gnocchi Board
- Spider Strainer
Official Bio
Silvana Lanzetta is a 4th generation artisan pasta maker from Naples.
Silvana started making pasta at 5 years old with the help of her grandmother Rosa Russo. As she grew up, she started to help in the family pastificio every school holidays.
Silvana has never done any formal education in pasta making or cookery, but learned everything first hand during the 17 years spent with her grandmother pastificio, until its closure in 1995.
In 2013 Silvana started to give private pasta making lessons, and her business grew over the years. Among her achievements, she has been featured as pasta maker expert in the BBC2 Inside the Factory, she has been holding pasta making demonstration in Harrods, and she was included in a roundup of best workshops in Britain by the newspaper i.
