“One Sunday in May I travelled to London with my mum to attend an Italian Spring Bites course at La Cucina Caldesi – The Italian Cookery School in London. The course provided a pleasurable challenge for 12 aspiring cooks.

Presented with the contents of my store cupboard I think I would put even Ursula’s talents to the test, but the course was excellent and certainly inspired me to improve my cooking.

The course began with a demonstration of bread and pasta making by Ursula. She chatted about Italian dinning and answered general questions from the group whilst we enjoyed a cappuccino – then it was time to get our aprons on.

Each pair of cooks selected one of the half dozen recipes that Ursula described – mainly using fresh vegetables. Mum and I chose Polpette di patate and ricotta (Potato and ricotta cheese balls) which were easy to make and very tasty.

With everyone preparing something different the kitchen was buzzing, the sun was shining, the doors and windows were open and the mood and fresh air were invigorating. The closeness of the kitchen allowed us to see what others were preparing and the time scale also created an exciting ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ atmosphere. We were all laughing together at various mishaps.

Ursula and her team were on hand to assist as required and were very encouraging to all. None of the recipes were daunting so even a novice in the kitchen would get along fine.

We lunched as a group on all of the delights created. And they were delicious – even if I do say so myself.

Our small group of 12 was an eclectic mix of couples, mothers and fathers, men, women, and singles of varying ages. The morning was definitely enjoyable and suitable for everyone. A great idea for a gift (my mum is already hinting that she is eager to repeat the experience).

We were all given a course folder to take away which contained all the recipes from the morning and I would happily try to make at least half of them. With Italian boyfriend, I can really put the skills I learnt to the test. As each was a ‘spring bite’ they could be used as entrées or as components to a full meal.