A savvy mum-of-two has shared how she's slashed her weekly food bill by foraging for food around London – turning nettles and milk thistle into pasta and soups.

Vittoria Veltri, 38, a cooking teacher and chef from London, started foraging as a child in her hometown of Calabria, Italy.

Growing up, she used to forage with her "nonna" and dad in the surrounding hills which were rich in plants such as borage, wild fennel, berries and chicory.

From their finds, they would make fresh jam, pasta and soups – but upon moving to the UK in 2012, she found herself lacking in confidence to continue her family tradition due to not knowing which plants were poisonous.

Soon, she decided to recreate the flavours she grew up with during her cooking classes and, as she lives in an area filled with greenery, she started foraging once again.

Apart from creating delicious dishes, such as wild garlic pesto and colourful pasta dough, she's also been able to make a saving on her weekly food shop – slashing her spend by £30.

"[Before foraging] we spent around £150 for our household of five people," Vittoria told NeedToKnow.Online.

"Now, I manage to save £30 on my weekly shop.

"I live in South West London and here, there is a wide range of wild places to forage.

"Around my son's school, there is a beautiful area which is perfect to find seasonal plants and I've found three-cornered garlic, nettles, pineapple weed, blackberries, milk thistle and so much more.

"I was shocked the most to find borage in London because I thought it only grew in Italy.

"It's not widely used in the kitchen, while other ingredients you can find in teas and tablets.

"I love using nettle purée to make colourful pasta dough and for making the filling of ravioli.

"The highlight of my spring was green lasagna with wild garlic pesto and ricotta, with a béchamel sauce and decorated with wildflowers.

"For my granny, foraging was a normal practice and she grew up in an Italy completely different to the one I did.

"After the Second World War, people were extremely poor so they ate whatever nature offered them.

"I've always loved nature and while I was looking at the plants [in the UK] memories kept coming back to me of smells and plates.

"I couldn't resist and as my nonna died two years ago, no-one else would have cooked these things for me ever again."

One of Vittoria's favourite things to eat is pickled mushrooms, which she still gets delivered to her house yearly as they're uncommon in the UK.

Now, she takes her older son, Alex, five, foraging after picking him up from school – where they spend hours looking for fresh goods.

She said: "He loves it and is also more encouraged to eat greens that he has picked himself.

"He knows a lot of herbs and plants already, as well as loving cooking and gardening.

"If I don't manage to immediately use the plants, I blanch and freeze them, where they last for ages."

While there are many health benefits with the items she uses, there are also many dangers involved – especially surrounding poisonous plants.

Vittoria added: "Some plants and mushrooms are deadly poisonous and if you make a mistake, there is no way back.

"Some other plants aren't good for the human body for a certain period. For example, you must not eat nettles when they are flowering because they produce a substance toxic to the liver.

"However, nettles are super rich in iron and by making them into pasta shapes, my kids love eating nettle tagliatelle.

"Milk thistle is used to detox the liver and dandelions are rich in antioxidants.

"It's healthy to go for walks and connect with nature – it's an awesome way to connect with each other."

ENDS