MARINA'S STORY.

“I dedicated the Marinastrone recipe to my mum...Anna Maria Pustetto, from Ravascletto.

See, I always thought my father was the better cook; I remember them both in the kitchen, cooking away and arguing and almost killing each other because they were Italian.

I loved his cooking...but I loved her minestrone more.

It was a recipe they made in Italy, in the country province of Ravascletto. A war-time recipe; a meal to make during hard times, when things were scarce. They would do whatever they could with the veggies on hand, whack in some elbow pasta to bulk it up and keep everyone fed.

I learned how to cook it alongside her. My mum and I didn’t get along all the time, but I remember asking her how to make it, and her walking me through each step. When to add water, which veggies to blend up and which to leave whole. I remember eating so much of it when she used to make it; I’d have 2 or 3 bowls and be so full and happy.

“It was that nourishing sort of meal…that countrified comfort food, you know?”

Sometimes, I wonder if we should have called it Maria-strone, after her…but I think I’ve recreated it enough to call it my own. I could never find the full recipe of hers, so I had to finish it from memory when I made it for Two Good. She’s not alive anymore, but I don’t think she would have minded.

I’m pretty proud of being in the cookbook. Every time something happens with the recipe, or with Two Good, I let my daughter know and she gets really proud of me.

The day Two Good handed out the dates for us to cook our own recipes for the team, I saw that my date was my mother’s birthday; I decided I had to cook her minestrone. On her birthday this year, I dreamt of her, and the very next day Jo rang me to tell me that Lendlease had just ordered a bunch of Marina-strones for their Good Feels packs.

I couldn’t think of a better meal to cook for Two Good than my mother’s minestrone; the way it makes you feel a bit happier in your heart. Or at the very least, your tummy. Because that’s Two Good, right there; they’re the best people I’ve ever worked with. The best people I’ve ever known, really. I love them so much.

So, I hope this meal makes you feel loved and nourished…like it always did for me.”