The essence of Italian food, like Nigella's style of cooking, is simplicity and directness. In her new series, Nigellissima, our favourite home cook shows how easy it is to bring the spirit of Italy into the kitchen and onto the plate using ingredients available in any English supermarket.
With her passion for Italy and Italian cooking - she lived and worked in Florence before reading Italian at Oxford - Nigella's mouth-watering dishes have their roots in tradition but take us into fresh territory; knowledge worn light of touch but full on taste.
While she is true to the spirit of Italian cooking, her recipes are always quick and easy, designed to elevate everyday eating into no-fuss feasts for those days when we need to get supper on the table pronto.
Nigella says: “When I went to live in Italy when young, I said I'd do anything but clean lavatories; as a chambermaid in Florence, that is what I ended up doing! But I also learned about real Italian food, and by the time I'd left I had found my spiritual and gastronomic home.
"I wanted to make a series of my sort of Italian food, inspired by the ethos and the ingredients but fused with the way we live our lives, here, in the UK. I care about ease and accessibility, but I care most about passion and taste and it is these crucial Italian factors, I want to bring to the table and the television!"
The series (6x30) was commissioned by Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two and Alison Kirkham, Commissioning Editor for Features and Formats. The Commissioning Executive at the BBC is Lisa Edwards and Pete Lawrence is Executive Producing for BBC Bristol.
Photo credit: Hugo Burnand
I wanted to make a series of my sort of Italian food, inspired by the ethos and the ingredients but fused with the way we live our lives, here, in the UK."
