Celebrating the Week of the Italian Cuisine

On a bright and very cold afternoon in November I made my way to the University of West London to attend a masterclass (with actual students, no less!) in Italian cuisine with MasterChef Professionals finalist Chiara Tomasoni.

The event was held for the yearly Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, a global showcase of our gastronomy and culinary heritage organised by our embassies around the world.

The event was particularly timely as it happened just before UNESCO decides on the candidacy of Cucina Italiana for Intangible Cultural Heritage status; a massive recognition for our traditions and food for sure.

Chef Tomasoni, assisted by MasterChef contestant 2025 Olivia Balzano, guided us through a couple of her recipes, demoing first hand how to use up left over ingredients and reuse them, reducing waste and recycling them to make delicious dishes.

Two typical Italian classics were on the menu, gnocchi and tiramisu.

Making gnocchi

To make the gnocchi, Chiara and Olivia used up stale bread, crumbling it into a large bowl and then mixing the crumbs with cheese, ancient grains flour, herbs and eggs. Chiara explained how to use by products of the cheese making products such as ricotta and whey (hello whey caramel! Who knew). As readers of this blog know, I am all for sustainability in and outside of the kitchen so this was absolutely up my street.

Chiara and Olivia (who’s from Naples like me) both highlighted how many of their respective regional recipes use leftover, from meatballs to mozzarella in carrozza, all incredible homemade traditions rooted in Italy’s rich culinary heritage. Our grannies grew up during the wars so they really knew how to make ingredients last… using up all parts of an animal for example, or using up bread to make up stuffing or ‘mock parmesan’… it was necessity for them and for different reasons, it is necessary for us these days. Food waste globally is a massive issue so these topics are so relevant!

Once made, the gnocchi were then boiled and finished in a pan with a fondue of Parmigiano DOP cheese, sage crisps and pickled veg straight from Chiara’s Devon garden. It was so good and warming, perfect for winter but so colourful and bright.

What’s the most famous Italian dessert?

Everyone, or almost everyone, answered “Tiramisu’!” and true, the second recipe was for tiramisu. While I make this often and, pat on the back, very well, I still learnt something new. Chiara makes a syrup boiling coffee grounds with sugar and water and then filtering the liquid in a muslin cloth before using it to dip the savoiardi (base of the Tiramisu). She also shared her secret ingredient in the cream, which was buffalo milk yogurt, a truly special product from Campania (where Mozzarella DOP is produced).

We all got a taste and it was, I admit, as good as mine!

Thank you Italian Trade Agency London for inviting me to celebrate the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World in such a special setting.