I have a great love of cooking and eating – just an addiction to food in general But my other greatest love is anything Italian so Italian cuisine is like the epitome of food for me.

Before the end of this week I hadn’t even heard of Stefano Manfredi and then all of a sudden he made an appearance on Masterchef and in the same week he also made an appearance on Italian Food Safari.

I was truly blown away by his cooking and since gnocchi is my ultimate Italian dish, watching Stefano cook his spinach and ricotta gnocchi – well let’s just say I almost died and went to heaven – I wonder what will happen on the day I actually have the chance to try them LOL.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have a cooking class with this genius? I don’t think I will ever attempt his gnocchi without proper guidance from Stefano – I would not want to fail such a divine looking dish. However, this minestrone that he cooked on Italian Food Safari seemed easy to make and perfect for a cold evening’s hearty meal so I will definitely give that a go this winter.

I still cannot decide whether I would prefer to have Matt Preston‘s job or Maeve O’Meara‘s job. As far as I am concerned, they are two of the luckiest people in the world.