Beautiful People: Elisa Costantini

By Kaitlin Irwin

There is nothing like a comforting home-cooked meal to warm the heart and bring you closer to loved ones. Elisa Costantini has been preparing delicious Italian classics in her home for decades and now her mouth-watering recipes are available in a cookbook, Italian Moms Cooking. Originally from Poggio Valle, Italy, Elisa began cooking when she was just a girl, assisting with her aunt’s catering business and learning the secrets of the kitchen. Over the years her culinary skills blossomed and Elisa developed a lifelong love of cooking. She also fell in love with a man and once they married, Elisa lived with her in-laws in a new Italian town. This led to new discoveries in the kitchen and experimentation with new flavors and ingredients.

Elisa and her husband soon moved to the US, settling in the Philadelphia area but never losing their delicious Italian roots. Elisa’s passion for food kept her connected to her hometown while sharing her expert culinary skills with others. As she and her husband raised their family, relatives came to adore her authentic Italian dishes.  After the passing of her husband in 2013, Elisa was consumed with grief. For the next 6 months she struggled to engage with her daily activities and clear away her husband’s possessions. Concerned, her children helped her clean things up and in the process found hand-written Italian recipes from years gone by. They saw this as an opportunity to lift Elisa out of her depression, and they decided to try a Kickstarter campaign to help her turn these recipes into a cookbook.

Hundreds of people backed the Kickstarter and ended up raising thousands of dollars. The project quickly became a sort of “stone soup,” with friends and friends of friends gathering resources to make Elisa’s cookbook a reality. The launch party for the book was held at a downtown Philadelphia school in need of funding, giving Elisa a platform to share her book while giving part of the funds back to the community. Readers found themselves delighted with her recipes, which evoked the simplicity of life’s pleasures and the joy of cooking. This project that pulled Elisa out of her depression ended up lighting up the lives of others, too!

Things progressed quickly, with appearances on Rachael Ray, QVC, and The Today Show, an honorary doctorate from Chestnut Hill College for her philanthropy, and two more commissioned cookbooks with Elisa’s publisher. Even with all of this action, Elisa continues to work full-time at Divine Providence Village, a school for girls with mental disabilities, where she has been working since 1981. Heading into her 80s, there is no slowing down for this Italian mom, as she gets so much joy from spreading her love for good food, the comforts of home and the love of family.

You can keep up with Elisa and her work at www.Italianmomscooking.com.