Just a step away from Lecco, there's a must-visit agriturismo that’s also an inspiring social project

by Michele Turelli

Cascina Don Guanella in Valmadrera is a social farming project aimed at welcoming, caring for, training and integrating into the workforce young people with difficulties and at serious risk of social exclusion. The initiative is inspired by the figure of Don Luigi Guanella, who lived in the area at the end of the 19th century.
The Cascina is a social cooperative whose heart is the organic farm that stretches across the surrounding hills. Its lifeblood is the 5,000 square metre vegetable garden, irrigated with a gravity system, where vegetables, berries (raspberries), and herbs are cultivated—sold both fresh and used in the kitchen.

What’s produced at Cascina Don Guanella

The barn houses cattle and goats, whose milk is used to make cheeses in the on-site dairy, sold directly in the farm shop and offered for tasting at the table.
With cereals grown on land owned by the project in the province of Como, a variety of breads, pizzas, focaccias, baked goods and pastries are made.
Other points of pride include their fruit jams, excellent honey, and ice cream made using only in-house raw materials.

There's also a wine cellar and a brewery:

In the former, the farm’s own wines are stored, including an excellent Barabin Bianco (from Chardonnay, Sauvignon, and Incrocio Manzoni grapes).

In the latter, thanks to locally grown barley and hops, seven outstanding craft beers are brewed: Agricola, Barabiga, Belga, Blanche, Bock, Coda di Volpe, Lampo, and Nera.

What you can eat

Both wines and beers can be enjoyed at the tables of the bright and thoughtfully arranged restaurant area, which features spacious indoor and outdoor seating.
During a springtime lunch, we experienced the kind of honest and hearty cuisine you hope to find in such places.

The meal opened with a simple vegetable flan with cheese fondue and a buckwheat crisp, followed by generous, rustic meat ravioli with butter and sage, indulgent spaghetti alla chitarra with asparagus cream and crispy pancetta, and a homely Fassona beef stew with mashed potatoes.
In addition to the cheese selections (which are definitely worth trying), dessert is well rounded off with fiordilatte ice cream on a bed of strawberry coulis and meringue.

The service matches the setting, with a young and courteous front-of-house team.
Booking is essential.

Cascina Don Guanella – Valmadrera (LC) – p.zza Rossè, 3 – 334 7009827 – cascinadonguanella.it