My feet kicked up a bit of dust along the dirt road that curved through the orange grove toward the little cottage I was renting for the night. A couple of horses looked up from where they were grazing at the roadside and as I passed the chicken coop - a cave carved out of the wall of the canyon with a fence enclosing the area in front of it - I looked down to see what the hens were being fed. The ground was scattered with leftover pasta. No doubt about it, they're Italian. Sicilian, to be exact. It was like walking through an interactive menu.

Sicily is a gorgeous land full of vacation options ranging from beautiful beaches and boat tours to quiet, medieval villages and dramatic Greek and Roman temples. The latest trend in tourism is the agriturismo, the farm holiday. Guests stay in a room or cottage on a farm where meals are one of the attractions. A typical agriturismo produces most of what arrives on the table: meat, cheese, olives, fresh fruit and vegetables, wine and pasta.

Traditionally, an agriturismo was a farm offering rooms for rent where guests could participate in farming activities or go hiking or horse riding. But now the term is more loosely applied. Some are merely bed and breakfasts, while others include a traditional restaurant. Still others have tennis courts and swimming pools. It depends on your desires and how far you want to go into Italian country living.

My partner and I wanted to go at least as far as the dinner table. A careful internet search turned up a plethora of Sicilian agriturismos and in the end we chose Casa dello Scirocco for its proximity to the cities of Catania, Siracusa and other Sicilian attractions.

We crossed from the mainland on a 20-minute ferry ride to Messina, then took the train south along the eastern Sicilian coastline, passing magnificent beaches. Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, stood prominently on the horizon, still capped with snow in early June.

From the Catania train station the town of Lentini was a 40-minute bus ride and our agriturismo a short walk from there. Casa dello Scirocco is named after the hot African wind that carries rain and misplaced desert over Sicily from time to time. Tucked into a narrow canyon, it offers the dual benefits of being quiet and secluded without being far off the tourist path. Guests have the option of staying in comfortably spaced cottages or cozy grottoes carved out of the stone. All rooms have bathrooms and a small refrigerator and hotplate. Some provide fireplaces as well as televisions. There are bikes for rent, a corral for horse riding and a swimming pool shaded by eucalyptus trees. A simple museum in a hillside cave shows what home was like for the farmers of the past.

Outside the bungalow we looked out over a grove of orange trees, with olive trees beyond that. Spring was just finishing and the countryside was aglow with brilliant colours: fields of undulating gold, bursting bushes of fuchsia and dapples of red poppies. The fragrance of the flowers filled the air.

But for me the main event was the meal. Italian cooking is famous the world over but Sicilian cuisine is the best, if Maria La Rocca, the owner of Casa dello Scirocco, has anything to say about it. Basic room rates include breakfast; for Italians that generally means espresso or cappuccino and a brioche. Lunch and dinner, however, are not nearly as sparing.

We ate lunch in a large dining room with dark wood ceilings. Two walls were plate glass windows looking out into sunlit gardens and fruit groves, where much of the meal had recently been picked. There was no menu, Maria warned us.

We started with a sack of antipasto. The waitress wheeled out a cart and began to fill the table with plates. A tip for the traveller: skip the bread. Delicious and fresh as it may be, the modest stomach won't last through the "primo piatto". We dug into bruschetta with eggplant and sesame, goat cheese with oil and spicy pepper, olives, an onion- and tomato-filled pastry, deep-fried onions, caponata (a dish of red peppers, eggplant, olives, carrots and raisins in olive oil), fried rice balls called arancini and a tortino di carne (a meatball wrapped in eggplant strips with onion, cheese and tomato sauce topped with a couple of basil leaves almost too beautiful to put a fork into). In between mouthfuls we drank a hearty red wine produced in-house.

Then came the first plate. Typically this would be pasta, but this time we ate Sicilian pizza. You won't find this in most pizzerias in Sicily, but this was the authentic Sicilian pizza. It resembled a large calzone but the pastry was very light, flaky and deep-fried. Inside was goat cheese and just a trace of anchovy.

Just when I thought perhaps I had reached my limit, the second plate was rolled out: tender grilled beef strips with fresh rosemary and basil, alongside fried potatoes flavoured with the same herbs. We finished the plate with a light salad of fresh greens, red cabbage, corn and grapefruit from the trees outside the window.

Dessert was home-made almond ice-cream with a sweet almond sauce and a twirl of chocolate. I capped it all with an espresso so as not to slip into a drowsy coma.

A meal at the restaurant - lunch or dinner - costs about $26. But for guests it is only a supplement of about $17 for one meal and $32 for two, though I can't imagine eating twice like that in one day.

Prices at agriturismos can vary a few dollars up or down, and the menus are always full of pleasant surprises. Fishing is a primary industry in Sicily so it is not uncommon for agriturismos to serve seafood. Even with fresh swordfish, a local specialty, the tab often comes in under $30.

Even if you prefer a beachside hotel or the all-inclusive resort, a meal at an agriturismo or traditional trattoria is an event that should not be missed.