But also with lots of families and cute children

As you may know i spend the last saturday at Massimo’s Restaurant and Oyster bar where took place a really nice event organized by Slow Food UK. The purpose was to let the children experiment with food and get curious, open towards new ingredients and to know them a bit better.

Massimo Riccioli was there to explain and to let the family try the classic roman dishes created with simple and good ingredients like Rigatoni with bolognese sauce, panzanella, focaccia with Parma ham , arancini,  suppli and some great fried prawn and calamars. These were absolutely amazing!

Then Slow Food prepared a long table with 5 tasting experience for all the children to get involved with the food, using all their senses. As you can see from the pictures they had great fun and they seems to be amazed by it. 

Pastificio dei Campi was there too with Food in the city, ready to explain a bit more about pasta, such a simple ingredient but so full of interesting stories: from the ingredients used to make it, to the roughness, from the drying process to the different shapes and their pairing with sauces.

For me it was really funny to play with the children, explaining them all about it, let them touch the pasta and show them the different shapes.

But I also had the chance to know much more about the Slow food educational projects like Slow food baby that has the aim to show how to introduce a varied healthy range of first foods and flavours to babies, or Slow food on Campus that brings the enjoyment of food to University students across the UK and lots more. You can check all the projects here: slowfood.org.uk

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A great article on pasta, from the origins to the global and the English market.

On tuesday we were glad to see our Pastificio Dei Campi pasta on The Guardian "word of mouth" blog, named by Oliver Thring as the best pasta brand he ever tried.

The article in fact begins speaking about the latest news released by an Oxfam international research this year about the use of the pasta in the world and the fact that pasta is definetly the world's favorite food.

For sure a great result for something that has been invented and produced for years just in one little country like Italy. But is really like this and how this was possible? These are the questions the article wants to answer analyzing the origin of pasta, the steps in the history and its success during the years in Italy like abroad.

Do you know how much pasta the english consume every year? or do you know that especially the english children use to love it? And have you ever come across a student forum and their conversations about pasta and recipes?

Here are all the answers and some interesting and curious information about pasta.

Thanks again @OliverThring for the mention and let's hope to make the english discover and love the good italian pasta always more.

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To remind you about "Children in need" this evening on BBC

Every year in November the BBC set aside one evening of programming on its flagship television channel, BBC One, to show events aimed at raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the UK.

In 2009, the charity raised over £20 million! The mascot is a yellow teddy bear with a bandage over one eye, called 'Pudsey'. Introduced in 1985 it has become a regular feature and a famous character.

The attention for this event it's high in all England and everyone try to raise money or spread the news around this project in every way. Very typical is the bake sale and especially the cup cake sale, with some created from famous chefs just for this event.

So, to remind you all this important event, I decided to make a list of the favorite pasta dishes for children, the ones they love the most and finish in no time.

Children normally like little shape of pasta because easier to eat and simple flavors. A part from the classic and simple tomato sauce pasta (made with passata, without any tomatoes chunk, or following this recipe), you can try to add some tuna too or you can cook some cheesy pasta. With  some butter and a good quantity of Parmesan, or even with another cheese they like, this pasta is really appreciated. Have you ever tried pasta wit ham, pies and cream? This is always a success and it puts together, protein, carbs and the vegetable too. Easy and quick to prepare, it's a must to remember.

Finally for the most creative and even fussy children, a good idea is to give them some cooked pasta (maybe with some butter), some cooked vegetables and other ingredients they can easily add to their plate. In this way they can decide what to eat, how much, and have the satisfaction to have cook this by themselves.

What is your secret recipe to make your children happy? Share this with us and I'm sure you will  help not just the little ones. And don't forget tonight the show on the BBC.

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