This new book by Author Marzia Bellotti Molatore is all about cooking simple Italian dishes.

Cooking with Mamma Marzia is a collection of family recipes, traditions and cultures passed down through the generations of her family. This cook book is Marzia’s love story between herself and her family, and Italian food. You will find 67 easy-to-follow recipes with an appetizing photo to inspire your everyday cooking. Her hope is that you will make many beautiful memories with your loved ones, cooking for them or cooking with them. And don’t forget to add a Sprinkle of Love in every recipe!

Marzia Bellotti Molatore, an award-winning cooking class instructor based in Langley, BC, recently released her first cookbook, “Cooking with Mamma Marzia”, sixty-seven recipes that bring the home cooking of Italy into your kitchen. Mamma Marzia was born in Naples, grew up in the Valtellina region of Northern Italy, and learned to cook as a child in the kitchens of her Nonna, mother and many aunties.

Growing up in Italy, Marzia looked forward to Sundays, where food was celebrated all day long, and fresh, local produce took center stage. When she moved to Canada in 2003, she vowed to continue her Italian traditions and share the meals she’d grown up learning to cook with her family, and she invited new friends to share her table. After these friends tasted her delicious cooking, they insisted she show them how to make her dishes, especially her lasagna from scratch, and Marzia obliged, launched her cooking classes. From a small group of friends and a few dishes to multiple classes a week, Bella Cibo became known for her entertaining lessons. With Covid restrictions, she is now doing classes via Zoom and Instagram Live.

I made a couple of recipes from the book including the “Gnocchi with butter and sage” on page 55; I had to change up one of the ingredients and used ground sage instead of fresh sage leaves as that was what I had available.

I also made the “Chicken Cacciatora” (page 131) using chicken breasts instead of mixed pieces which was delicious.

She’s broken-down Italian home cooking into sections including “The Basics”, “Handmade”, “Pizza and Bread”, “Pasta”, “Meat & Fish”, “Vegetarian” and of course “Desserts”, and the recipes are relatively simple, with straight forward instructions intended to inspire families to cook together as Marzia’s family does.

Cooking with Mamma Marzia is self-published and can be found currently at Cioffi’s in Burnaby, Posh Pantry, De Benedetto Imports, Book Warehouse, Yes Chef and online here

By: Richard Wolak