Welcome to Cooking with Marcella
A personal journey through Marcella Hazan’s Italian Recipes, one dish at a time. If you love the kind of Italian cooking that lingers in memory long after the last bite, where every ingredient matters, and every dish tells a story, you’re in the right place.
I’m Lisa McLean, and Cooking with Marcella is my personal journey through the recipes of Marcella Hazan, one of the greatest voices in Italian cooking. I’ve been cooking from Marcella’s books for decades, but now, I’m committing to working through her recipes with fresh eyes, exactly as she wrote them. No shortcuts. No tweaks. Just a deep dive into her approach, her wisdom, and her legacy, shared with you, one dish at a time.
But this isn’t just about cooking classic Italian dishes—it’s also about learning how to eat for long-term health.
Marcella Hazan was teaching authentic Italian home cooking long before the world fully grasped the power of the Mediterranean diet. Today, we know that this way of eating is backed by the highest level of scientific evidence for its role in preventing chronic disease and promoting longevity. In Cooking with Marcella, I weave this knowledge into the journey, showing how Marcella’s recipes align with what we now understand as one of the healthiest ways to eat.
By following Marcella’s culinary wisdom, you’ll not only learn to cook extraordinary Italian dishes, you’ll also be embracing a way of eating that supports vibrant health.
What You’ll Get as a Subscriber
🔸 A front-row seat to classic Italian home cooking. I’ll be cooking through Marcella Hazan’s recipes, sharing insights into their history, technique, and cultural significance.
🔸 Clear, approachable guidance. Whether you’re a seasoned cook or new to Marcella’s world, I’ll walk you through the process with step-by-step descriptions and key photos where needed.
🔸 A taste of Italy’s culinary traditions. Each post will explore the regional and seasonal roots of these recipes, connecting them to the broader tapestry of Italian food culture.
🔸 Personal reflections and storytelling. This is more than a recipe blog; it’s a personal journey. Expect musings on ingredients, kitchen memories, and the experience of cooking through Marcella’s work.
🔸 Regular updates, delivered straight to your inbox – Free subscribers receive my main posts, featuring full recipes and reflections.
Why Subscribe
Become a paid subscriber to enjoy and make the most of my delicious exploration of a true master of Italian cuisine.
Free Subscribers
🔸 Every month I will publish a free newsletter, exploring one of Marcella’s recipes with my reflections and experience of cooking the dish, and how it fits into the Mediterranean diet.
🔸 A monthly kitchen round-up - A personal reflection on what I’ve been cooking, experimenting with, and thinking about in the kitchen, including insights into the Mediterranean diet.
Paid Subscribers
🔸 A weekly Cooking with Marcella Newsletter, where I write about my deep exploration of one of Marcella’s recipes.
🔸 My detailed instructions and insights to help you create each dish at home. Each recipe will be available as a beautifully formatted PDF for easy reference in your kitchen.
🔸 Full access to my archive, so you can explore past posts at leisure.
🔸 Special content as the journey unfolds. Expect deeper explorations, behind the scenes insights, and discoveries as I work my way through Marcella’s books. I am also developing a 2 week Mediterranean Diet Meal plan, based on Marcella’s recipes.
🔸 Special 50% discount off Spice Chronicles and Kokumi Kitchen
About me
We all wear many hats in life, but for me, the thread that runs through everything is food, good, nourishing food that nurtures the body, soothes the mind, and brings comfort to the soul.
Professionally, I teach and write about food and nutrition as a naturopath, nutritionist, and medical herbalist. I’ve published research in peer-reviewed international journals on evidence-based complementary medicine, but my true passion lies in the hands-on experience of bringing food to life. As a cooking teacher, I guide others in creating meals that are not only delicious but also deeply nourishing. Through my cooking classes, I share the joy of making food from scratch, respecting ingredients, and embracing culinary traditions that have stood the test of time.
Here, in Cooking with Marcella, my focus is on recipes, deeply rooted in the Mediterranean diet and guided by the teachings of Marcella Hazan, a master of classical Italian cooking. Italian cuisine sits at the heart of the Mediterranean way of eating, a diet now backed by the strongest evidence for its profound benefits to health and longevity. Through this publication, I’m exploring Marcella’s culinary wisdom, sharing her recipes exactly as she wrote them, and inviting you to cook alongside me—whether in your own kitchen or, perhaps one day, in one of my classes.
Thank you
for subscribing and being part of this community of cooks, food lovers, and seekers of good, nourishing meals. Whether you’re here for the love of Italian cooking, the wisdom of Marcella Hazan, or simply the joy of bringing beautiful food to the table, I’m delighted to have you along. I hope this space enriches your cooking, sparks inspiration, and feels like a place where we can share in the simple pleasure of good food, together.
Lisa
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