It couldn’t be easier or tastier at Cooked from Scratch, a Granite Belt cooking school at Glen Alpin. Using premium local produce, including vegetables from the Sabo’s on Severn veggie plot, you’ll learn how to create everything from pasta and paella to what to do with an Instant Pot. Lizzie Sabo’s 20-year ambition to have her own cooking school is a dream come true, and husband Joe couldn’t be happier. Sabo’s on Severn also offers pet-friendly Granite Belt accommodation with a fireplace!
Lizzie Sabo demonstrates her easy and quick yoghurt making method.
Ready to start the Spanish tapas cooking class at Cooked from Scratch.
Enjoy a class at this Granite Belt cooking school
Located on the southern side of the Granite Belt close to Ballandean, Sabo’s on Severn is a three-hour drive from Brisbane. The cooking school is a dream come true for passionate cook Lizzie Sabo who runs the classes with assistance from her husband, Joe. Lizzie’s kitchen, where the classes are held, is impressively outfitted and stocked with everything one could need. If it’s not on hand, Lizzie probably has it mail-ordered and arriving soon.
Drawing from her extensive cooking experience and overflowing library of cookbooks, Lizzie has put together a series of classes that reflect her passions. She is an excellent teacher, taking students hands-on and step-by-step through every process so they leave confident to repeat the recipe at home.
Using produce from her vegetable garden and a ready supply of freshly laid eggs from the backyard chooks, Lizzie adds plenty of Granite Belt goodness to her ingredients with locally sourced cheese and chocolates. Hunting down the top local suppliers is her speciality.
Making tapas at this Granite Belt cooking school
What to expect at this Granite Belt cooking school
What should you expect at this new Granite Belt cooking school? I had a chat to Lizzie to see what she offers at Cooked from Scratch.
How long have you been planning the cooking classes?
This has been a dream of mine for about 20 years. It’s a bit surreal that it has finally become a reality.
What type of cooking classes do you offer?
There’s a variety of classes, including some with a seasonal flair to them. The list includes Spanish Tapas & Paella, Yum Char, Preserving, and Pasta & Gnocchi. We have also been talking with several other community members who will share their knowledge and passion for classes on sausage making, salami, woodfired ovens and pizza making.
Who are your students?
Anyone young to old who has passion and desire to cook and have fun in the kitchen. We hope you are interested in trying something new and sharing it with friends, both new and old.
What do you want students to gain from the classes?
Confidence and the skills to try something new that they can share with their family and friends.
All his own work! Photo: Kerry Heaney
Granite Belt cooking school Cooked from Scratch Tapas & Paella Class
Lizzie’s Tapas class at Cooked from Scratch includes the sort of food that will become family favourites. I enjoyed learning new techniques and finally understanding how to make a few of these dishes in an easier way.
The class includes spiced marinated olives, roasted red peppers on garlic toast, smoked ham croquettes, deep-fried Aussie snapper with pimento aioli and a Spanish omelette. After cooking all this delicious food, the best thing is that when it’s ready, you get to eat it.
For this dinner, Lizzie invited local winemaker Andy Williams from Hidden Creek Wines, who matched some of his new Spanish-varietal wines with the tapas and paella. Andy is crafting new wines from Strange Bird grape varieties, and we enjoyed tasting the results.
Joe and Lizzie Sabo. Photo: Kerry Heaney
5 questions for Lizzie Sabo
What is your first food memory?
Food has always been a passion and a love. My earliest memories would have to be the huge Christmas lunches we had with family and friends.
Sweet or sour?
I would have to say sour. A cheeseboard well executed and a great bottle of wine, well, who could go past it?
Favourite dish?
It would have to be my slow-cooked silverside with proper white sauce, colcannon potatoes with cabbage and spring onions and a bit of butter, roasted pumpkin, and baby peas. I think I might just have to cook that for dinner tonight.
What did you cook last?
Aged dashi dofu (deep-fried tofu), Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), Karaage chicken and miso soup. I love cooking and learning as much as I can about Asian food and ingredients. I love the flavours and different styles, and this will be one of our classes.
What dish are you most proud of mastering?
Cooking a rabbit dish three ways as part of a seven-course degustation for guests. I have never been keen on rabbit since Dad cooked it when I was a kid. That is a bad food memory.
The veranda on Sabo’s on Severn’s self-contained accommodation. Photo: Kerry Heaney
Granite Belt accommodation at Sabo’s on Severn
Lizzie and Joe Sabo moved to Glen Alpin, which is about 10km south of Stanthorpe on Queensland’s Granite Belt, several years ago. They purchased a well-known B & B, Das Helwig Haus, and proceeded to resurrect and refurbish the building and grounds.
They had not counted on experiencing a prolonged drought which made their task even harder.
When you arrive at Sabo’s on Severn, expect a warm welcome and comfortable Granite Belt accommodation. There are four self-contained units (I stayed in Poppy) which have a mini kitchen, lounge chairs and dining table. There is also another table on the veranda that’s perfect for the complimentary breakfast, sunset drinks, or anytime you want to take in the grounds.
If you are looking for Granite Belt accommodation with a fireplace, the rooms here each have a wood-burning fireplace which heats the room up very nicely! Each of the self-catering units sleeps four people with a queen-sized bed and double bunks. Breakfast can be enjoyed in your room or at a shared table in the house. It is just like being at a café as Lizzie offers quite a selection. However, you do need to place your order the night before. There are an additional four rooms, each with their own bathroom, which are part of the house.
Both types of accommodation will be perfect if you are travelling with a group of up to 16 adults because there are multiple communal areas, including a dining pavilion with barbecue, pizza oven and firepit.
Lizzie also caters for dinner on request, and you can order cheese platters that come laden with local produce.
Other bonuses include the birdlife (this is a bird watcher’s heaven) and the llamas. You must meet Barb!
Getting to Sabo’s on Severn and Cooked from Scratch
You’ll find Sabo’s on Severn off the New England Highway at 113 Mount Sterling Road, Glen Alpin. It’s a straight, three-hour drive through Ipswich, Warwick and Stanthorpe if you are coming from Brisbane. Add and extra 30 minutes from the Gold Coast.
Check out the Granite Belt cooking school Cooked from Scratch classes here.
Exploring the Granite Belt
I am a big fan of the Granite Belt and have travelled throughout the region. Here are some of my favourite things to do.
- Pick your own Granite Belt strawberries
- Explore with the Granite Belt food lover’s guide
- Go on a Granite Belt bike ride
- Try the best Stanthorpe apple pie
- Discover where to eat on the Granite Belt
- Do a dog’s day out on the Granite Belt
Disclaimer: Eat drink and be Kerry stayed as a guest of Sabo’s on Severn and Tourism Queensland
