Cooking for the People You Love (Including Yourself)
February has a reputation for being about grand gestures — flowers, reservations, fixed ideas of romance and the pressure that can go along with that.
But for me love is far more practical and consistent. It shows up quietly, in everyday meals, familiar recipes, and the simple act of feeding someone well.
Cooking for the people you love doesn’t have to mean elaborate meals or special occasions. More often, it looks like a pot left simmering on the stove, a simple table setting, or a recipe you’ve made so many times you no longer need to think about it.
For me, food is how care is expressed. You cook for your family, your friends, your neighbours. You cook when someone isn’t well enough to cook for themselves. And yes, you cook when there’s something to celebrate — and why wait for something to celebrate!
This type of cooking isn’t about impressing; it’s about intention, comfort, familiarity, and mostly importantly presence. And let’s face we could all do with putting down our phones and being more present. The meals tend to be simple, seasonal, and repeated often — because repetition builds trust. Everyone knows what’s coming, and that’s part of the pleasure.
I believe February is the perfect month for this way of eating. The markets are still full of winter vegetables, citrus, beans and greens. The food suits being cooked and shared slowly, around a table where conversation matters more than presentation.
And then there’s the often-overlooked part: cooking for yourself.
I never treat eating alone as an afterthought. Even when cooking just for one, meals are given care. A proper plate, good ingredients and sitting down to eat.
Cooking for yourself is an act of love, It says: this meal matters, even if no one else is here to see it.
So, this February, rather than focusing on who you’re cooking for, it’s worth thinking about how you cook. With joy, with warmth. With the intention of looking after someone — whether that someone is a table full of people, or just you.
Because at its heart, for me, Italian cooking has always been about love made practical. And that kind of love doesn’t need a special day.
Here are a few things I’ll be cooking this month using seasonal ingredients.
My minestrone soup - a bowl full of hearty goodness, I make this on repeat at least once a month and there’s always a serving or two tucked away in my freezer for those days I simply don’t have the time to cook.
Link to my Minestrone recipeBlood orange and Fennel salad - Light, fresh, February-appropriate, the blush and blood orange season is short and sweet, as well as enjoying them on their own for an extra dose of Vitamin C, they pair perfectly with the slightly aniseed flavour of the fennel. Peel and slice the orange, thinly slice the fennel (use a mandolin if you have one), then layer the fennel on a plate, top with the orange, a scattering of good black olives (Taggiasca or Kalamata work well), sprinkle with salt and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and it ready to go.
Lastly, I can’t live without a quick pasta dish which comes together in 20 minutes or so, perfect for midweek meals for one or more. I love the classic Puglian dish Orecchiette with broccoli, which is the traditional recipe. However, I also like to mix it up a little and add in the meat from a good quality Italian pork sausage.
From my table to yours, with love
Related blogs:
Why we should eat the Mediterranean way
5 Tips for the perfect Valentine’s or Galentine’s night dinner