Ursula Ferrigno is a culinary educator, cookbook author and leads occasional small group tours to Italy, usually through Stirred Travel. Ursula’s decidedly British accent belies the fact that she was born and raised in Italy by her Italian father and English mother. Although her parents have passed away Ursula is still strongly tied to her Italian heritage and whenever possible travels to the Campania region where her dad was born - Minori on the Amalfi Coast, and Sicily where he worked.
Ursula lives with her husband and daughter in England.
Ursula writes for a number of food magazines including Taste Italia, American Gourmet, Olive and Good Food.
You can find Ursula on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Ursula's cooking classes
Ursula views herself first and foremost as an Italian culinary educator and she teaches in many cooking schools and venues throughout England.
Some of the schools where Ursula teaches:
Ursula teaches at the Leiths School of Food and Wine and a few of her many courses are Artisan Pasta, Flavors of Sicily, A Taste of Italy, Assemble Ravioli, and Italian Winter Feast.
At The Cookery School at Braxted Park Ursula’s classes include Authentic Italian, Delicious Dishes in 20 Minutes, Perfect Pasta, and La Dolce Vita - The Italian Baker.
Ursula has an upcoming Italian Seafood class at The Mistley Kitchen and an Ultimate Italian Bread Making Class at The Jericho Kitchen.
Ursula's cookbooks
Part of the way Ursula teaches cooking and recipes to her students is through her many cookbooks.
Ursula started writing cookbooks 30 years ago and her topics are almost always closely tied to Italian cuisine. Her cookbook topics are driven by her own passion, or are topics suggested by her publisher, or what her students are looking for. Right now she's thinking about a new pasta book focusing on pasta made with flour and water, something many of her students are interested in.
A few of Ursula's books
Two of Ursula’s books naturally focus on Sicily where her father worked. He managed to instill a passion in her for the Island. Cucina Siciliana (published in 2019) and Flavors of Sicily (published in 2016) share fresh and vibrant recipes from this unique Mediterranean island like Ursula’s Orange and Red Onion Salad and Bucatini with Mussels.
if you'd like to take a deeper dive into Sicily then read my posts Eating Your Way Through Sicily, the Best Palermo Street Food and the Sicilian Food & the Monsù Cuisine. Check out my Flavor of Italy trip the Flavor of Sicily. And if you love chocolate you won't want to miss a visit to Modica, Sicily where a very unique style of chocolate is made; read about it here.
Ursula Ferrigno's Lemons and Limes was published in 2020 and the book has 75 recipes that share how to cook with citrus. Most of the recipes are Italian but many are also internationally inspired.
I love to cook with lemons and one of my favorite desserts is this Lemon Lavender Cake.
Ursula has written two oil and vinegar books: Oil & Vinegar published in 2019
and A Gourmet Guide to Oil & Vinegar published in 2014.
Would you like to know more about Italian olive oil? Read about Our Italian Olive Harvest and this award-winning olive oil producer in Puglia.
Ursula and her small group tours to Italy
Ursula shares her passion for Italy and Italian food through cooking classes and market visits with her students, plus small group tours organized by Stirred Travel. Stirred Travel was selected by Condé Nast Traveler magazine as one of their Top Travel Specialists for 2019.
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I blush at the compliments! Joe is still waiting for a surgery date! And he's not terribly mobile these days and is suffering a fair bit of pain. But...he's going to hydrotherapy classes 2X a week and that is helping somewhat. The sooner he can have the hip done the better...fingers crossed for sometime in the spring or early summer. Ciao, Wendy!
Let's definitely hope he gets this done sooner than later, but at least he has the hydrotherapy that's helping. Keep on making all your gorgeous and delicious dishes that I so enjoy!
Nice post Wendy! As soon as I began reading I realized that I've got one of Ursula's cookbooks, Trattoria! I must bring it down off the shelf and place it my line of sight! I can hardly wait for spring to get cooking with a lighter touch...even though we do adore a good braise! Happy cooking Wendy! Will keep you updated regarding Joe's hip and when we can finally come over for a visit!
I'm absolutely loving every single thing you cook Phyllis and then of course Joe does wonders to bring your delicious dishes onto the page and make me drool just as if I were right there eating with you! How is Joe and his hip?