I wrote a book!
And there's a FREE festive desserts ebook when you pre-order
I am the absolute worst at keeping secrets and this one I’ve been keeping for over a year! All during last Christmas and the new year, all throughout our 4-month-long Italian trip this year, and all through being back home in Melbourne cooking non-stop with Isaac all of August for the shoot, and then proof-reading the final manuscript a million times over before working through the design of the final product! And all of that while still showing up to work, and remaining on IG and TikTok like it was business-as-usual 😅
But now that it’s official, and pre-orders are live, I can tell you everything about it all! And in all honestly, I plan to, because I poured all my heart and soul into this book. So much so, I hit severe burnout around the start of September which led to an official ADHD diagnosis and the journey to stimulant medication which I start this Friday - but that’s another story for another time!
Pre-order here
Putting the link front and centre so it’s easy to find, but continue reading to find out more about the book and how to get the FREE 10-recipe festive desserts ebook with pre-order.
About the book in a nutshell
My book is called Easy Italian Dinners, but everything can be made for any time of the day of course, and it wouldn’t be me without a sweets chapter.
For this book, I wanted to bring together my love of my heritage, my career in nutrition, and put forward solutions to many people’s everyday struggles regarding meal prep, cooking and eating. So behind the cover of Easy Italian Dinners are 7 chapters and 101 recipes that are steeped in authentic, traditional Italian cooking, but adapted for people’s busy lifestyles, and adjusted to provide robust nutrition through high protein (both veg and non-veg), high fibre, vegetarian, vegan and budget-friendly recipes.
You can see this in the book via a set of really easy icons that we’ve placed next to each recipe in the contents page, and on the recipe page itself!
Why this book is different to other Italian cookbooks
I developed the recipes first for flavour and texture, and then analysed each recipe using the nutrition, dietetics and food science industry’s gold-standard software, Foodworks. From here, I adjusted the ingredients to provide a higher protein, higher fibre result while maintaining the same amazing flavour and texture profile as the authentic ‘base’ recipes.
From there, I cooked the recipes over and over again, to make sure I was happy, they were delicious, and the method and instructions were incredibly clear. I also adapted traditional methods to be ‘easier’ because I didn’t want any of my recipes requiring special equipment or fancy utensils. I didn’t want there to be a barrier between you and my recipes, I wanted everyone to be able to make them regardless of how well-equiped their kitchen is, or what their cooking skills might be like.
Then finally, I set Isaac, my sister and a bunch of friends (TYSM!!!) to work testing these recipes to check for any instructions that might not be clear, and to check the timings of everything across many different brands/types of ovens and cooktops. And obviously, to check that everything was indeed delicious!
While everyone was testing and providing feedback, I was down to writing the actual written part of the book and this is the part I found the hardest. Coming from social media, my tone was wayyyy too casual, but coming from academia, my tone was wayyyy too staccato and scientific. So I had to re-write my work so many times, to find a happy medium, where my tone would be inviting and warm, while still being informative, but not going into specific, fine detail like I usually do (haha!) because this isn’t a textbook, it’s a cookbook!
When is the book being released?
Australia and New Zealand: May 5th
UK: May 14th
US and Canada: May 19th
But no matter where you are, you can pre-order via this link because it’s geo-located to your IP address, so will bring up the best options for you in your location - pretty cool hey!
How to get the FREE additional ebook with pre-order?
Order from Booktopia from now until December 23rd and they will email the ebook directly to you within 24-48 hours. Super easy!
What recipes are included?
Sgroppino cocktail (classic Venetian Summer cocktail)
Pandoro trifle with prosecco jelly (with an option for non-alc)
Frittelle (Venetian doughnuts)
Citrus mascarpone cheesecake
Roasted stone fruits with marsala cream
Cherry granita
Panettone tiramisu
Lemon and vanilla pannacotta
Cherry and chocolate semifreddo
Pistachio biscotti
That’s all the key information for now, but I’ll be sharing more of the journey here and on IG/TikTok over the next couple of weeks, and plenty of content about the 10 additional festive recipes that will be arriving with you shortly after pre-order through Booktopia.
Thank you so much as always for being here, and I can’t wait to show you more Easy Italian Dinners in the lead-up to publication!
Mel x
We preordered ours already! Very exciting, Frugal Mediterranean is very loved in our household.
The preorder link to get the free dessert eCookbook is available only on Booktopia, is there a way folks in the US that ordered from somewhere else can get access to the dessert cookbook?
Woohoo!! So exciting. I imagine this book, along with your other "Frugal Mediterranean Cooking", is bound to get over-stained, over-stretched, over-thumbed, and over-loved; not just by myself, but by many, many, many others, too 💖🥰💖