Born in the dairy-rich hills of Valle d’Aosta, Italy’s tiny alpine jewel on the French border, Gina grew up surrounded by cows, castles, and cousins who constantly came over because her house always smelled like heaven. She’s small in stature, large in voice, and firmly believes that everything in life can be fixed with more cheese – except maybe lactose intolerance.

Her mother, Beatrice, made cheese from scratch and wore an apron with pockets full of parmesan. Her father, Rinaldo, was a woodworker who built her first cheese grater out of walnut. Gina spent her childhood sneaking into the cheese cave, tasting everything from Fontina to Formaggini, learning the flavour profiles – before she learned how to spell them.

Her Creamy Cheese Sauce is the stuff of folklore: a molten blend of Fontina, Parmigiano Reggiano, mascarpone, and a splash of milk, stirred slowly until it coats the spoon and your soul. She adds a hint of nutmeg and never boils it – “Boiling cheese is like yelling at a cat – it just ends in disappointment.”

She pours it over fresh fettuccine, uses it as the crown on baked gnocchi, and has been known to “accidentally” make extra just to dip bread into while no one’s looking. Her kitchen is a shrine to all things creamy and decadent, and no one leaves without at least three hugs and a cheese hangover.

Gina says:

“A good cheese sauce should make you close your eyes and say ‘Mamma mia’ without even trying.”