Lifeluv Food with Maria's Pasta

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About us:

We are so happy to introduce you to Lifeluv, an offshoot of the Maria’s Pasta family!

I’m Kylie Italiano and before I met my husband Paul Italiano, I had no idea that food could be the enriching heart of family life. It just wasn’t like that in my childhood home: we didn’t have that sense of abundance and connection around food. But when I was welcomed into the Italiano family I discovered a whole new world. I started to understand why you might spend five hours cooking something when it's eaten in 10 minutes, I was taught to relate to food as something with a larger purpose, not just fuel but a vehicle for conversation and rich connections - with the people around you, the ingredients, the earth, even myself as a body and soul. It was a profound shift for me.

I was welcomed into Italiano family life and into the Maria’s Pasta world which is interwoven with it. Lifeluv is my contribution to the family’s ecosystem, a vehicle to help people ensure they have nourishing food in their homes, even when they don’t have time to shop, prepare and cook for themselves. I’m a busy mum and I get it!

Another inspiration for Lifeluv has been the rise of fast food delivery. I see people picking up their phone and ordering dinner with a few taps, and then they stay on their phone to eat it! There’s no life, no reflection on the ingredients, it just feels empty to me! When I’m developing the menus for Lifeluv, I’m reaching for flavours that knock people’s socks off, food that’s so alive and vibrant that you can’t help but pause and really notice it when you sit down to eat. We don’t lean on fat and salt to make our food appealing, we work with fresh herbs, carefully balanced, lovingly cooked ingredients and recipes so we don’t need to resort to those easy - and not always healthy - elements.

Like so many people, lockdowns have prompted changes for me personally. My work as a sports coach dried up and I thought, ‘maybe it’s time to do this thing I was always meant to do’. I was also prompted by a young person in my circle who was struggling. ‘Come on, let’s try some recipes,’ I said to her. Lifeluv is the entity that was born from challenge and necessity but I truly feel I’ve found my purpose.

One of the dishes on the Lifeluv roster is the Chicken & Bianco Sauce with Fresh Linguine. This is a key dish for me, one of those early Italiano family dishes that Nonna Josie made for me. The chicken polpette take so long to make, so much effort goes into them, it’s representative of everything family and food can be. I am excited to bring this dish - and so many others - into your household’s repertoire. Even when you can’t cook for yourselves, you can have that same home-cooked nourishment. Let me know if you can taste the love!

Warmly,

Kylie