All the way from the port city of Genova in northwestern Italy, Francesca De Rege shares with us her warm approach to cooking for the ones you love. Her commitment to letting the seasons dictate her shopping, cooking and recipes is both practical and soulful. She rounds off our interview with a traditional, regional recipe called farinata – a simple, protein-packed meal perfect for a weekday thrown-together meal.

Name: Francesca De Rege
Occupation: Nutrition educator. An architect in my previous life.
Location: Genova, Italy
Family members: Francesca, Andrea, Maritino (5yo), Romeo (1yo)

We are a family of four with two children full of energy, with whom I spend a lot of the week with. Andrea has working hours quite far from family life. He works as an architect but in a special way. Not even he knows if he’s more an architect or a carpenter. When we’re all together we sing, dance and watch them climbing on trees. We love to see them free.

After graduating in architecture, I changed direction and now I deal with nutrition and childhood. I follow families and children, helping them find their solution to eating healthier in an easier way.

I have always eaten a bit of everything, often home cooked. I liked baking cakes and welcoming those who came to visit me with what I prepared. More than what I ate, my attention was focused on the cuddles from what I prepared. I have always loved the idea of comfort food.

When my eldest son, Martino, started to eat solids, I started asking myself many questions, about the origins and false myths related to food. I heard too many times "you must eat this" or “do not eat that" and I wanted to understand, know, be able to respond and be confident. So, I started studying and signed up for a holistic nutrition course. Now, we always have organic fruits and vegetables at home, different types of cereals, seeds, nuts. Less and less meat. It is a natural transition and for us it is working very well.

I have to balance work, children and taking care of family food, so a little organisation helps me to propose something healthy and not fall into the easy habits of making pasta every day. I love simple and fast cooking. The less I process what I cook; the happier I am. I have only one exception – I love to make bread at home and when I can do it it’s sooo relaxing.

I’ve always involved children in shopping, because they come with me everywhere. I tell them what we will buy and why we prefer not to keep some things in the house. Every week a box of organic fruit and vegetables comes home and we open and rearrange it together, so we can play and chat about the passing of the seasons. It is a good time.

During the week, the children and I often have dinner alone, unfortunately, and the moment is never very clear. We need to work on it a little more, or maybe need to grow a little. Martino has always had little interest in food. He eats everything but in small quantities. I can’t blame him because I was the same as a kid, so in the evening, combined with the tiredness of the day, he really struggles to eat calmly, which increases everyone’s stress. Romeo seems to be different, he is autonomous, curious and has always wanted to eat by himself, even at nine months. A funny guy. Basically, we decided not to stress ourselves about how much the children eat or not, we are more interested in their curiosity about food and the serenity between us.

The pantry varies very often, because I enjoy changing and trying. I like to play with flours. We always have three jars of different flours in rotation. In winter, I prefer chestnuts, rye, chickpeas. In summer, rice, almond and buckwheat. Then we try to rotate, some goat cheese, Sardinian ricotta (my favourite), berries and fresh herbs. I use the oven a lot, it's my greatest ally.

Andrea’s childhood and the moment of meals together is not part of his sweetest memories. I, on the other hand, grew up in a very large family. My father has six sisters, and we are of eighteen cousins. Traditional parties together have always been a time of great joy, noise and heart, all held together by a super grandmother, who cooked for everyone. My passion for cooking comes from her. At Christmas the scent of baked pasta, at Easter she stayed awake to make torta pasqualina – a savory pie made with artichokes. From her, I learned that cooking is caring for your closest ones, it is sharing and it is simplicity. I have a cookbook of her that I love to reread.

I would like the children to learn that the time you dedicate to cooking is a special gift you give to yourself and to the people you cook for. Dedicating time to ourself and to others for nourishment, is a gesture that speaks of love. One of the thoughts for this winter is to start making fresh pasta and biscuits together to give as gifts.

Recipe: Farinata

Choosing a recipe was not so easy. There is no favourite one, but at this moment I really wanted to pick up chickpea flour and I am pleased to share a recipe from the region where I live. Farinata, is a chickpea pie that flavoured in many different ways, according to seasons. Fresh onion, artichokes, sausage. We do it together with the children, they like it a lot and it is very nutritious.

140g chickpea flour
420g water
5g salt
70g extra virgin olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary
Toppings of your choice

Prepare the batter with the chickpea flour and water; blend them together and mix them well.

Let the batter rest out of the fridge for four hours, even eight in winter. Remove the foam on the surface if it is created.

Add the salt and mix.

Meanwhile, turn on the oven to maximum, even 300 ° C and place a 30cm pan inside to heat it up.

Pour the oil into the pan and slowly slide the batter into the center of the pan. The oil will rise on top of the batter, that's right. The thickness must remain between 0.5-0.8 cm – this is the only way you can talk about farinata!

Bake for 20 minutes on the lowest shelf of the oven. It should be golden on top but soft underneath, well cooked at the edges.

You have to eat it hot.