Mom's Favorite Recipes

Yes, I make most of my family’s meals from scratch.

I’ll spend hours roasting tomatoes for pasta sauce, baking fresh bread, mixing homemade seasonings, and standing in the kitchen because providing good food for my family is important to me.

But I’ll also gladly make a quick box of mac and cheese or throw together an easy meal when the day has already taken everything out of me.

Because real life doesn’t look like homemade sourdough, organic ingredients, and picture-perfect meals every single day.

Some days are filled with work, errands, cleaning, caring for children, helping others, and trying to keep up with everything that needs to get done.

And when those days happen?

A simple meal is still a good meal.

Not every dinner needs to be perfect to be meaningful.

Maybe we should stop expecting exhausted mothers to do everything flawlessly all the time.

Real life is homemade pasta sauce one night and a quick, easy dinner the next.

And both can be served with the same love around the same table. ❤️

Timballo di pasta con melanzane

Ingredients
300g pasta
2 eggplants
400g canned peeled tomatoes
150g cheese, such as mozzarella or ricotta
1 onion
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until it's halfway done. Drain it and set it aside: it’ll finish cooking in the oven, so don’t worry if it’s still a little firm.
2. Slice the eggplants and brown them in a pan with olive oil and the chopped onion. If they soak up too much oil, blot them with paper towels to remove the excess.
3. Add the canned tomatoes to the eggplants and let everything cook over medium heat until the eggplants are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Don’t worry if the sauce looks a bit runny at first.
4. In a baking dish, layer the ingredients: one layer of pasta, one layer of eggplant and tomato sauce, and one layer of cheese. Keep going until you’ve used everything, finishing with a layer of pasta on top. Mix the layers gently where needed and don’t pack it down too much: just mix until barely combined.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes. If you want a more golden top, turn on the grill for the last 3–5 minutes. Don’t worry if it still looks a little loose at first; it’ll set as it bakes.
6. Serve warm, topped with fresh basil. Let it rest for 5–10 minutes before slicing so it holds together better. Enjoy!