GIVEAWAY! Plus a Recipe for Pizzelle from Maria Pasquale’s New Book, Mangia

Issue #129

Photo by Andrea Di Lorenzo

My dear friend Maria Pasquale’s new book, Mangia: How to Eat Your Way Through Italy, is not a cookbook. It’s more like an encyclopedia filled with stories and tips that highlights the must-know dishes, regional products, food festivals, and culinary experiences in all 20 regions of Italy. The culmination of a lifetime’s worth of cooking, eating, and food-related activities, Mangia is an ode to regional Italian cuisine.

In it, Maria shares her top ten dishes in every region, plus additional foods and drinks you should look for during your travels, as well as experiences ranging from winemaking and truffle hunting to market tours, visits to cheesemakers, and mountain barbecues. And yes, she shares one recipe for each region, which she sourced from some of Italy’s top chefs, including Massimo Bottura, Mauro Uliasse, and Fulvio Pierangelini. I got a sneak peek and it’s delicious—don’t read it on an empty stomach unless you’re ready to feel some serious hunger pangs!

I recently caught up with Maria over lunch (what else?) and she offered to partner with the New Roman Times for a giveaway. She also agreed to let me share her mother’s recipe for pizzelle, which appears in the Abruzzo chapter of the book. At the bottom of this issue, you’ll find all the details about how you can enter to win a copy of Mangia in our giveaway. The giveaway is in no way supported by or affiliated with Substack or Instagram.

Photo by Mark Roper

Le Pizzelle di Lina

By Lina Pasquale

It wouldn’t be a Sunday growing up in my house if you didn’t wake up to the sweet scent of my mum making pizzelle. These typical waffle-style cookies vary in shape and texture (my aunt in Abruzzo makes the soft version, while Mum’s are crunchy), but anyone that’s eaten them will agree — they’re absolutely addictive. When I was a child, mum would make them one by one using a traditional waffle iron over a gas flame, but nowadays she uses an electric one. And even though she makes a couple of hundred at a time, they really don’t last long — between her gifting them to family and friends and everyone just snacking on them at all hours, they’re gone before you know it. You’ll need a waffle maker or a pizzelle iron to make these. Invest in one and I promise it will be worth it.

Makes 80-100

• 6 eggs

• 165 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar

• 180 ml (6 fl oz) olive oil, plus extra for brushing

• Squeeze of lemon juice

• Dash or liqueur (preferably Frangelico)

• 500 g (3 1/3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, approximately, as needed

Beat the eggs with a wooden spoon, then add the sugar and olive oil, followed by the lemon juice and liqueur. Gradually add the flour and stir until the consistency is that of a thick batter, which should fall off the spoon in dollops.

Preheat a waffle or pizzelle iron over a low flame on the stovetop or turn on an electric waffle/pizzelle maker and allow it to warm up. Brush the metal grid lightly with olive oil, ready for the first pizzelle. Add a heaped tablespoon of the batter to the center of the pizzelle iron or waffle maker and close. Cook, turning the pizzelle iron often over the flame, if that’s what you’re using, for 45-60 seconds, until golden. Remove and leave to cool on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining batter.

The pizzelle will keep for several weeks stacked in an airtight container in the pantry.

Mangia Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Maria’s new book, we’re partnering to give away a signed copy to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is:

• If you’re not already subscribed, sign up for the New Roman Times using this button (this giveaway is open to free as well as paid subscribers)

• Follow Maria on Instagram @heartrome

• Like this issue and comment below to tell us your favorite Italian dish

The giveaway is open to residents in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the EU and UK, and closes at 11 p.m. CET on March 27, 2025. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced in a special edition of the New Roman Times and on Maria’s Instagram on March 29.

Further Reading

• You can purchase copies of Mangia on Amazon or ask your local bookstore if they stock it.

• In case you missed it, you can read my interview with Maria, author of four best-selling books, here.

• To get to know Maria better, check out her popular blog Heart Rome and follow her on Instagram @heartrome.

• In my latest article for Travel + Leisure, Maria shared her tips about the 10 best cities in Italy for food and what to eat in each one.

• You can see all the recipes in the New Roman Times’ archives here.