Cucina povera is the basis from which all our favourite Italian dishes come from. It’s the sort of cooking Gennaro was brought up on and still cooks today. It originated mainly from rural areas, where meals were created using the limited number of ingredients available – either what people grew or what little they could afford to buy. In doing so, they learnt to value what they had and to lovingly cook dishes to ensure they tasted better, using all their imagination to make dishes go as far as they could.

People spend so much money on takeaway when you can actually do it yourself. Tomatoes, I can do in five minutes, I do a beautiful sauce. Cook them with a little bit of olive oil, a crush of garlic, a little bit of chilli, a little bit of water, boil the pasta at the same time, throw in the starch - if you've got some breadcrumbs, throw them on top."

A vibrant Italian cookery class hosted by Gennaro Contaldo

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic cloves and basil stalks and sweat over a medium heat for a minute or so. Add the tomato passata and a little salt to taste and cook over a medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Step 2 The philosophy of his book is simple, delicious, hearty meals using accessible and affordable ingredients. Encouraging an ethos of zero waste, Gennaro's Cucina ensures that every part of the ingredient, and your budget, is put to good culinary use. Pasta started out as a cucina povera food, mainly in the south where it was made without eggs and simply with flour and water. Pasta shapes such as orecchiette and cavatelli from Puglia, strozzapreti from Tuscany, trofie from Liguria or Sardinian malloreddus form the basis of many delicious regional dishes. Traditionally, pasta was the staple of the south and the north ate rice and polenta, which were enriched with whatever little ingredients were available – from this grew delicious risotto and polenta dishes. First make the pasta dough. Place the flour in a mixing bowl or in a heap on a clean work surface, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Using a fork, gradually mix the flour and eggs together, then knead with your hands to make a smooth dough. Shape into a ball, cover with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to rest for about 30 minutes, or until required. Has there ever been a better time to learn new ways of reducing your food waste and find inventive ways or using up every bit of the ingredients you buy?

And I hate expiry dates, just smell it, look at it - there's nothing wrong with it except when it's rotting. Even if you've got some milk left, when it goes sour you've got lovely ricotta." in batches, ensuring you reheat the oil between each batch. Remove each batch using a slotted spoon and leave to drain on kitchen paper. Step 4He learned to cook himself because, simply, everyone did. “Inside my house papa wanted to cook, grandfather wanted to cook, my grandma would cook, my mama would cook, my sister was taught by my grandma. Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before entering the competition. By entering you indicate that you accept these terms and conditions, and you agree to be bound by them. While the sauce is bubbling away, heat plenty of vegetable oil in a large, deep frying pan until hot, then add some of the aubergine cubes and deep-fry over a medium-tohigh heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. You’ll need to deep-fry the aubergine Along with the majority of post-war Italian families, a young Gennaro was raised on a diet harvested on a limited budget. Restricted choice of scarce ingredients meant they learnt the value what they had, how to cook dishes lovingly and use imaginative methods of preservation to make simple dishes go far: including salting, drying and curing. The Italians are very proud of whatever they’re making, they express themselves through food. You see them at the table, ‘Try this’, ‘Try that’, they love feeding you.”

Because poor people had limited ingredients available to them, they learnt to value what they had, cook dishes lovingly to make them taste better and really use all their imagination to make dishes go as far as they could. They also learned to preserve food by salting, drying and curing. A lot of Italian food is based on this principle – look at all the delicious cured meats and sausages available in an Italian deli. Dates: The competition commences on Wednesday 19th April 2023 and closes on Wednesday 3rd May 2023. All entries must be received by before 23.30 (GMT) on the closing date to be valid and entered.Contaldo opened the Passione restaurant, in Charlotte Street, London, in 1999. Passione was awarded 'Best Italian Restaurant 2005' by the Tio Pepe Restaurant Awards. Passione closed in March 2009 due to decreased business as a result of the late-2000s recession. [4] With tips and ideas of what to do with leftover, Gennaro’s Cucina squeezes the most from the ‘cucina povera’ ethos’, ensuring that every part of the ingredient, and your budget, is put to good culinary use.