Meet Dorina
Home cook, recipe developer, and the storyteller behind every dish you'll find on this site.
How it all started
I'm Dorina, and Cooking with Dorina is my love letter to the food I grew up eating. My grandmother taught me to roll pasta on her kitchen table before I was tall enough to reach it. My mother taught me that a pot of soup can fix almost anything.
I started this site because I wanted somewhere to keep all the family recipes — the ones scribbled on cards, the ones only ever passed down by showing. Somewhere my nieces could find the ragù recipe when they were old enough to cook it themselves.
That was over fifteen years ago. Since then, the blog has grown into a community of home cooks from all over the world. The recipes here are mine — tested, retested, and adjusted until they're exactly what I'd serve at my own table. Nothing borrowed, nothing copied, nothing I wouldn't make for the people I love.
What I believe
My kitchen values
Cook with love
Every recipe is something I'd actually serve to my family. If I wouldn't make it twice, it doesn't go on the site.
Hands-on, always
No food processors when a knife will do. No fancy gadgets when your hands work better. Real cooking, real tools.
Rooted, then reimagined
I respect where a recipe comes from — and I'm honest about where I've taken liberties. Both deserve credit.
Tested until perfect
Every recipe here has been made at least ten times, by me and by readers. If it doesn't reliably work, it doesn't publish.
I cook the way my grandmother taught me — with my hands, with the seasons, and with the people I love in mind.
— DorinaBehind the scenes
Life in my kitchen
Let's cook together
Head to the Recipe Box for the dishes, or browse the Bottega for the tools I use to make them.