Gennaro's Cucina: A cookbook of classic Italian recipes that help to budget during a cost-of-living crisis

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Only paid guests who are actively taking part in a cookery lesson are permitted to be at the cookery school whilst classes are in progress. It originates 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. With t ips and ideas of what to do with leftovers, Gennaro helps home cooks squeeze maximum use from the ‘cucina povera’ ethos, turning humble ingredients into nourishing feasts without taste sacrifice. Learn how to use simple ingredients in inventive ways, eat seasonally, spend less and, ultimately, eat better. If you can get dandelion or puntarelle from your greengrocer, remember to remove the heart, which you can then use in a salad (see Insalata di Cuore di Cicoria recipe on page 129).

Along with the majority of post-war Italian families, a young Gennaro was raised on a diet harvested on a limited budget. With just the addition of olive oil, garlic and bay leaves for flavour, this dish really symbolizes the best of the old cucina povera and makes a delicious complete meal. As a result, it meant that his family had to learn to value what they had and make meals using accessible and affordable ingredients. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. 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.Remove the leaves from the dandelion (and the heart if using puntarelle) and save the roots to make a salad (see recipe intro). Restricted choice of scarce ingredients meant they learnt the value of 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. In Genaro Contaldo's new and exciting book, Cucina, you will learn how to use simple ingredients, eat seasonally, spend less and eat better.

Gennaro Contaldo's warmth, Italian spirit and sense of fun have led him to be one of the UK's most-loved chefs. Cucina povera’ is a simple philosophy – turn delicious affordable ingredients into hearty nourishing feasts. Place them in a saucepan, cover with plenty of fresh cold water, add the bay leaves and three garlic cloves, then bring to the boil and cook, partially covered, over a medium heat for about 45 minutes, until the beans are cooked through and tender.With tips and ideas of what to do with leftovers, Gennaro helps home cooks turn humble ingredients into nourishing feasts without taste sacrifice. To kick things off, you’ll enjoy a glass of bubbles while Gennaro demonstrates how to make his Polenta concia al forno (the most outrageously cheesy baked polenta) for you to try at our chef’s table. He is a favourite on Saturday Kitchen, has his own YouTube food channel, and is an ambassador for Citalia, Parmigiano Reggiano and Birra Moretti. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose.