More than 7 different  pasta dishes

Yes, this is the number of recipes he cooked for us all in one night! An explosion of taste, , traditions and high quality ingredients all mixed to create the perfect pasta night.
Between recipes, jokes, some learning from his experience and the italian tradition, Massimo Riccioli cooked some of the most famous Italian pasta dishes with Pastificio dei Campi and his personal touch!
Here a little recap of the night just to let you imagine the amazing time we had.
We started with some surprising pasta chips, fried Spaghetti served as a crunchy snack.

Then he opened the night with Vermicelli alla Sorrentina, with tomato, mozzarella and basil... This was just a little entry to tease the guests. “The red calls the black… like Pastificio dei Campi boxes, so here for you black squid ink pasta” This was one of the best dishes of the night Vermicelli with black squid ink and some grated salty ricotta! Everyone was amazed! 

To come back to the base of our cuisine, Massimo prepared a great Carbonara with Calle Pastificio dei Campi. Look at the pictures and tell me if it’s not tempting!

“ Now some inter regional Orecchiette with onion, like in Genova, broccoli and sardines from Sicily, the pasta from Gragnano and the original inspiration from Puglia.”

My favourite? Linguine with scallops, basil and a fantastic smoked ricotta cheese! Just a feast of taste.

When we were all thinking that the night was ending and with it the pasta dishes… Massimo started to cook again, and this time was… amatriciana of course, another pillar of the roman tradition! He chose Eliche Pastificio dei Campi for this dish and he didn’t put any oil or salt. All is left to the ingredients!

And to close the night, like in the most funny and long parties at home in Italy... Spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino (oil garlic and chili). The  classic dish everyone cook in the long summer night, when all the friends are together in some house and the morning is approaching! Irresistible!

Do you want to come along next time to try Pastificio dei Campi as cooked by Massimo Riccioli? You are guaranteed to have a good time! Keep an eye on this space or write me in the comments space!

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...alle cime di rapa or "broccoli rabe"

Let's comeback to the healthy diet and let's cook something at home!
This is a great recipes even for children who maybe don't like vegetables, because I think no one can resist to this dish.

This is a typical south italian recipe but I love it so much because the consistency of Orecchiette with the bitter taste of the vegetable enriched by the chili, the garlic and the nice taste of the anchovies... it's unique!

It's one of this pasta dishes that base all its taste on the real ingredients and the olive oil... No cheeses to combine the ingredients or to give the last touch. So healthy and fulfilling you can be sure a portion of this can just do good to yourself. I hope you will trust me!
 
The ingredients for 4 people are:

400gr Orecchiette Pastificio dei Campi
6 fillets of anchovies
2 garlic cloves Broccoli rape?(already clean) 600 g
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
and some chili and salt

Take the broccoli rabe already clean, remove the largest leaves or the hardest parts of the stem, taking precisely the more tender parts. Cut all into pieces, and wash them and [place them to boil for some minutes in some salty water.
 
In the meantime in a pan place some olive oil, the 2 garlic cloves, the pepper cut in little rings and with the chopped anchovies.
When the broccoli leaves are ready, drain them but keep aside the cooking water, to boil the orecchiette.
 
When the garlic is browned and the anchovies almost melted, add the turnip greens and let them take all the flavors for a few minutes. When also the orecchiette will be al dente, drain them and  add them to the pan.
Toss everything for some minutes and add some more oil or cooking water and then enjoy!

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To recover from the festivities

Are you  trying to comeback to a normal eating regime, after all you had during this month?
It's known that after all these days of food and drinks you will fell hungry often: doctors says it's useless to do a severe post Christmas detox diet. You will still be hungry and you won't loose so much weight, because the body will feel the need to keep energy and the fat accumulated.

The solution is to have regular and light meals that can keep you fulfilled for longer. Some days ago was even published an article about a Swedish study: Mediterranean diet gives longer life… and we are speaking about 2-3 years more! A diet that sees prevailing vegetables and carbohydrates ensures a long and healthy life, as it helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.

So have a look at this vegetarian pasta: replacing cream with a light cheese like ricotta it’s my secret to have a lighter but tasty dish.

Ingredients for 2 persons:
- 200 gr Spaghetti Pastificio dei Campi
- 100 gr. raw spinach
- a handful of pine nuts
- 100 gr. of ricotta
- 50 gr of smoked cheese (the bavarian one is quite good on this pasta )
- olive oil - salt and pepper
- 1 clove of garlic

Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan. In another pan heat some oil and brown the clove of a garlic, add the spinach, some pepper and let cook a couple of minutes. In a bowl mix the ricotta with a spoon of hot water from the pasta, mix well.

Cook the pasta, drain and pour into the pan, add the pine nuts and ricotta with salt and toss it all. Grate some smoked cheese on top, mix a minute and serve it on a plate.

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A new recipes book by Manuela Darling- Gansser

Today is Thanksgiving and being mainly an American celebration, every year I find myself a bit puzzled : I never know what to bring to parties and worst, what to cook in case they ask me to bring some food …exactly like this year.

On Monday I received an invitation for tonight. The email was saying that everyone was requested to bring something, but I can’t cook anything else than Italian food !!!

Luckily I have just received a new Stunning Recipe Book, that of course is about Italian food, but that gave me also a very nice idea for tonight.

The book is called Four Season: a year of italian food and has been written by Manuela Darling – Gansser,  a traveler and a linguist who, born in Lugano, has always been passionate about cooking and Italian food.

She put together this book after passing some times in different parts of Italy. Each season is described trough a region:  spring is Sicily with its amazing seafood, fruits, sweets and amazing smells and gastronomic tradition. Her childhood spent in Sardinia represents the summer with its cheeses, vegetables and great dishes from her memory.  In autumn Manuela reaches Piemonte in the north of Italy where there are very reach recipes,  a strong peasant food tradition and some unique ingredients like chestnuts and truffles. Finally in the Alps  in winter she passes to the reach and hot north Italian recipes, from stews to polenta, from Lamb pie and roast venison to some amazing chocolate cake.

So yesterday I started browsing through the beautiful recipes (the pictures are amazing and the book in itself it’s a beauty) with the sensation that the majority of them could be quite easy to follow. And there I found one thing that I never had the chance to try before: Bagna Cauda.

This is a very famous dish in the North of Italy and it’s a classic in autumn after the harvest, because the peasants used to eat it all together to remove the sweet smell of the grapes.

Considering that tonight the main dish will be the  turkey with all the trimmings, I wasn’t really keen to bring any other big main  but I thought this could be a really nice dish to have on the table and to eat all together. If you want to follow my idea, here is the recipe from the book in Manuela’s mum version:

BAGNA CAUDA DELLA MAMMA
(Mamma’s Raw Vegetables with Anchovy Cream)

This is the way my mother used to make Bagna Caoda. Boil the 500ml cream with the peeled garlic cloves (4-6) for 15 - 20 minutes so that the cream reduces and thickens. In a fondue dish, melt the butter. Cut the anchovies (8-10) very finely and add them to the 50 gr butter.

Cook them on very gentle heat, until they have melted. Now add the reduced cream. Crush the softened garlic cloves with a fork and stir well, taste and add a little ground pepper. Prepare the vegetables (cucumber, carrots, celery, peppers). Wash them well, slice, dry them, then put them on a large plate.

Put the sauce in a fondue dish over a flame in the centre of the table. Each person puts some vegetables on their plate, and then dips the vegetable sticks into the sauce. It’s also delicious to serve some grissini on the side, to dip in the sauce.

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Spaghetti alla carbonara for the woman in your house

Do you know what day is today? Pancake day? Yes ok also! But in Italy on top of the last day of celebrations for the Carnival before the lent, (a time of sacrifice and pray leading up to Easter), today is also the International Women's Day.
It's true that is not one of our favorite celebrations in Italy, because we hope you can celebrate women in general every single day of your life, but anyway in this day everyone give flowers to women, especially mimosa, and I was thinking could be nice to put up a simple recipe that every man could easily follow.

Spaghetti alla carbonara from Andreas Liebschner on Vimeo.

 
Thinking about it, a friend of mine just sent me a nice video, made by a guy, that explains the process to cook spaghetti Carbonara. And I have to say it quite follows the way I do it! I can't avoid to post it because I think it's clear, well done and original. Watch it and read all the notes, and you will discover why we are speaking about the sound of awesomeness.

Here the ingredients for a classic Carbonara for 2 people: 200gr Spaghetti or Tubetti Rigati Pastificio dei Campi, 70gr pancetta (better if you find guanciale) some pepper, 2 spoons of Pecorino cheese, 1 egg per person, some salt and olive oil. I also add some chopped garlic clove in the oil at the beginning but you can choose to put it or not.

Follow the video and you surprise your woman when she will comeback home!

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At their best in this season, you can't miss to try this dish

Last weekend I went to Portobello Market, because I had a friend visiting me and I decided to bring her in one of the most typical market here in London.

So while she was lost between all the antiquities and second hand dresses stands, I had the chance to buy some fresh products to cook in the evening. Between all the fruits and vegetables available, I was really undecided  about what to pick up, but the artichokes are one of those ingredients so rare to find, that I couldn't stop myself from buying them.

In Italy the artichokes have normally two seasons: one in these months and another one in spring, and they are a classic also in my family's Christmas dinner. There are so many ways to eat/cook them: you can serve their leaves like they are and dip them in vinaigrette, you can grill or fry them... or you can finally use them as an ingredient for your pasta.

Here some tips and a little recipe to enjoy them in the best way.

Ingredients for 4 people:

- 3 artichokes: Pick artichokes with well-coloured, undamaged, tightly-closed leaves. Smaller artichokes have more tender leaves; larger ones have bigger hearts.

- 380-400gr Pennoni Pastificio dei Campi

- 3 spoons of single cream or even semi-skimmed milk for something light.

- Extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and a vegetable stock

- 3-4 garlic cloves

- Parsley and a bit of lemon juice

- Parmesan cheese

Remove the toughest of the outer leaves. Snip off any sharp leaf tips. Snap the stalk off at the base and remove the tough fibres running into the base where possible. Cut them in four pieces. Pull out the central cone of thinner leaves to reveal the inedible fibrous 'choke' (this may not be present in smaller baby artichokes). Carefully scrape this out with a teaspoon, leaving the prized heart in place. Then put the artichoke in acidulated water (e.g. water with a good squeeze of lemon juice added) for around half an hour.

Place the garlic cloves in a pan with some olive oil. When they starts to get goldish, take them out and add the artichokes and some finely chopped parsley. Cover with some stock water and leave it cook for about 40 minutes. Add other "brodo" or stock water if needed. Artichokes are cooked when you can easily pull out an inner leaf and the stem is tender.

Prepare now the water for the pasta and then pass the half of the artichokes in a mixer with the milk, pepper, salt and some grated Parmesan. If you prefer to use the cream for your dish, don't add the milk to the mixer. When the sauce is done, put this back in the pan with the rest of the artichokes until the pasta is cooked. Here you can add the cream if you want, with some other salt and pepper.

When the pasta is ready, drain it and add the sauce with some Parmesan flakes and a touch of parsley.

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Another great english tradition... ready to be spiced up by some italian food

I was reading today about this nice english annual celebration, the Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night and all the events organized for the 5th of November, anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605.

As many of you know, the use of the term "Guy Fawkes Night" originates from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed conspiracy by a group of provincial English Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I of England and replace him with a Catholic head of state.

 The festivities involve firework displays and the burning of bonfires, upon which an effigy (traditionally that of Fawkes) is ritually burnt.

In Italy we don't have so many occasions for fireworks. We normally use them celebrating the 15th of August, a religious festivity, now also seen as a mid summer party occasion. Then of course there is New Year's Eve but it's not really different from what everyone does in UK.

Looking at some food website in these days, i couldn't  ignore all the recipes and menu suggestions for tomorrow: I learned about the Parkin, or the Toffee Apples, but i was a bit disappointed by the main courses... soup or chilli con carne ?!

I understand the spicy factor of the chili, but what about the soup? So at this point i would cook some Penne all'Arrabbiata, with just  tomato sauce, garlic, chili and parsley: very easy and quick to prepare also for a big number of people ... and yes, spicy enough to enjoy the Bonfire Night.

So what is your plan for tomorrow night? Are you going to watch the fireworks somewhere or you will be so lucky to be able to see them from your own flat? And are you going to have chili con carne or pasta?

Anyway i wish you to enjoy the party!

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