About

A Story That Started in My Grandmother's Kitchen

My connection to food started long before this website.

I grew up in Italy and spent countless hours in the kitchen with my nonna Lidia. She cooked for our family every day while caring for me, my cousin, and her own mother (my great-grandmother).

Some of my earliest memories are of standing beside her while she rolled pasta, stirred soups, and prepared simple meals from scratch.

In fact, according to my family, my first word was pasta 🍝

Looking back, I realize I learned to cook almost by osmosis. I watched, tasted, asked questions, and absorbed the rhythms of home cooking long before I understood what a recipe was.

The food wasn't fancy.

It was seasonal, local, and deeply connected to family traditions.

• Vegetables appeared at almost every meal.
• Beans were a pantry staple.
• Fresh bread was never far away.
• Olive oil was used generously.
• Fish, cheese, and meat all had their place at the table.
• Nothing was labeled healthy or unhealthy.

It was simply how people ate.

My nonna Lidia and my two great-grandmothers, Adalgisa and Annina, all lived vibrant, active lives well into their nineties.

At the time, I didn't think much about their habits.

Today, I realize they naturally practiced many of the principles now associated with Mediterranean living and healthy aging.

• 🥘 They cooked from scratch.
• ☀️ They spent time outdoors.
• 🚶🏻‍♀️ They walked everywhere.
• 👵🏻 They stayed connected to family and friends.
• 🍷 They enjoyed food without obsessing over it.

Many years later, after living and working around the world, I met my wife Louise and eventually returned to Italy.

Today, we live near the Mediterranean Sea and find ourselves returning to many of those same traditions and values.

Not because they're trendy.

Because they work.

What You’ll Find on the Menu

Hilltop Recipes is a collection of Mediterranean-inspired recipes for everyday cooking.

Some are traditional family recipes passed down through generations.

Others are modern interpretations inspired by the ingredients, flavors, and cooking styles found across Italy, Greece, Spain, the Middle East, and North Africa.

You'll find:

• Mediterranean dinners
• Pasta recipes
• Fresh salads and side dishes
• Vegetable-forward meals
• Seafood recipes
• Simple baking recipes
• Traditional Italian favorites
• Modern Mediterranean cooking

Every recipe is designed to be:

• Easy to follow
• Made with everyday ingredients
• Practical for busy home cooks
• Tested in our own kitchen
• Delicious enough to make again and again

Because the best recipes aren't the most complicated ones. They're the ones you look forward to eating.

Looking for vegetarian recipes?

We also run The Plant Based School, where we share over 1,000 easy, vegetable-forward vegetarian recipes. While Hilltop Recipes is where we share our favorite poultry, seafood, and everyday real-food meals, The Plant Based School is your ultimate resource for meat-free cooking. Both sites are driven by the exact same philosophy: real food, simple ingredients, and a practical way of eating.

Why trust us?

Before becoming a full-time food creator, I studied professional cooking in Italy and continued my culinary education through courses focused on Italian and international cooking, bread baking, sourdough, and pizza making.

Everything you see on this site is developed, cooked, tested, photographed, filmed, and written by us.

Louise is the creative force behind the camera and brings years of experience in photography, filmmaking, storytelling, marketing, and content creation.

Together, we create every recipe from start to finish, testing it multiple times until we're confident it will work in your kitchen as well as it does in ours.

Our Philosophy

We believe good food doesn't have to be complicated.

The Mediterranean way of cooking has endured for generations because it relies on simple ingredients, time-tested techniques, and meals meant to be shared.

Our goal isn't perfection.

It's helping you cook more at home, enjoy seasonal ingredients, gather around the table, and create meals worth slowing down for.

Whether you're making a quick weeknight pasta, a Sunday family lunch, or a meal inspired by your travels around the Mediterranean, we hope you'll find recipes here that become part of your own traditions.

Simple recipes.

Mediterranean flavors.

Real food.

That's what Hilltop Recipes is all about.

We're glad you're here ❤️

📸 Want a look behind the scenes? Follow us on Instagram where we share our daily lifestyle, quick cooking hacks, and what it’s actually like to run our businesses while prioritizing our health every single day.