Two houses, lots of rain but with comfort food

There is nothing that a good plate of pasta with the ragu’ can’t fix and the past weekend my new flatmates and me we proved how much this is true.

More than Easter holidays for me these 4 days were real nightmare: I came and go from my old house to the new one with lots of stuff, fighting with the space and the cleaning to do. The weather was horrible and yesterday was raining a lot. All my muscles were hurting but my food and my friends were there for me to spend the Easter lunch together… or better a brunch!

I decided to use my new kitchen straight away preparing something absolutely new for me: a classic Easter English recipe and a classic Italian one: hot cross buns and Mafaldine with ragu' of lamb. Of course we had eggs, salami, cheese, wine, salad, the classic colomba too, but the main attractions of the day were my two dishes.

The ragu’ was so reach and the Mafaldine pasta so delicious and consistent that we could not finish 500 gr of pasta in five. It grew a  lot and the brunch was a real feast. I cooked the lamb with parsley, rosemary a bit of chilli, mint and a little sprinkle of lemon zest and I served it with pecorino cheese.

Here a little pic of my hot cross buns too and finally a sneak pic of my moving. Do you notice anything in this bag? Pastificio dei Campi boxes are great to keep in order your kitchen cupboard, and are great to move your kitchen stuff too.

What I did on Easter Monday? My flatmates and me were thinking to bake the pasta from the day before with some mozzarella and parmesan, but finally we simply hot them up in the microwave. All of us were really impressed: the pasta was still al dente even after the microwave! This is the real pasta test!

I hope you enjoyed the break too and if you didn’t eat any pasta in those days, here is the recipe for your next dish!

Comment (0)

Some recipes to enjoy this great ingredient and our pasta

I admit it: I love artichokes but has always been a bit difficult for me to clean and cook them properly. I want them but I'm always a bit too lazy to actually buy them often.

Today, with the official beginning of the spring season I decided that it's time to beat my enemy and shake a  bit my diet welcoming this great ingredient.

I then started to look here and there for interesting recipes and this is what inspired me. They really are pretty easy, so maybe is the time to go shopping soon.

Just few days ago in twitter @donalde asked me about the Pecorino cream. I didn't know what it was, because very local and typical of Sardinia, but it seems you can find it in London at Melograno Deli with the Provola cheese too. So here some recipes to enjoy them and the artichokes!

Fusilli with artichokes, goat cheese, pecorino and almonds or Mezzi Rigatoni with artichokes and provola cheese (smoked or not).

If you like goat cheese go for Fusilli, that are better with saucy cream, while if you prefer Provala Cheese (you can find it in Melograno deli) go for the Mezzi Rigatoni.

Comment (0)

More than 6 dishes made with Pastificio dei Campi pasta.

As you probably know if you read this blog, on the 24^th of January a special event took place in Massimo Restaurant and Oyster bar , in the stunning Corinthia Hotel: a pasta night to die for! 

Massimo Riccioli decided to hold a night just dedicated to this  versatile and simple ingredient and he used of course  our Pastificio dei Campi Pasta from Food in the city, to realize 6 great recipes.

It was a real tour from the easiest Italian pasta dishes to the most elaborated ones, until the last minute sweet creation: Trofie with Mascarpone , ricotta, lemon zest, some orange juice and  a sprinkle of chocolate in powder.

But do you want to know what was served before? Have a look at these pictures (you will find all of them on my Facebook profile):

Calle dei campi with Extra virgin Olive Oil and Parmesan : the simplicity made dream!

Spaghetti with two tomatoes sauce: reach and tasty as only the fresh tomato and a good quality of pasta can do.

Gnocchi sardi with spring onions, prawns, colatura di alici  (anchovy droplets) and bread crumbs…: stunning!

Kingdom of the two Sicilies: Linguine with fish ragu, aubergines and salted ricotta!

And from a roman chef I could not ask more than an original Amatriciana with Mezzi Paccheri (pecorino cheese, chilli, pork cheeks and tomatoes)

And the best element that bring life to all this dishes and to the night, what Massimo’s passion in cooking and make everyone part of his secrets and experience…

Are you sorry you couldn’t make it? Don’t worries there will be soon another event!

Comment (0)

A vegetarian and light dish for a long menu.

As you maybe can imagine, in Italy we have long and great lunches in holiday time, when the family is all reunited together. The menus are reach of traditional dishes, seasonal ingredients and made following quite complex recipes.

For this Easter break I helped my mum in the preparation of the lunch and knowing about the starters, the lamb as a main dish, the potatoes and different vegetables as side orders and the amount of dessert that were going to come after, I suggested to cook a reasonable light pasta and it was a great choice.

I put together some fresh artichokes my mum bought at the market, some broad beans and how could i forgot about the Pecorino cheese, traditional partner of the broad beans in the picnic we normally organize on the  Easter Monday. Especially in Rome, "Fave e Pecorino" are a must!

Here the recipe i followed for 4 people:  Tortiglioni Artichokes and Broad beans

- 350 g Tortiglioni Pastificio dei Campi
- 4 artichokes
- 300 g Broad beans
- 1  onion
- 1 lemon
- Extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper
- Some grated Pecorino cheese
- some parsley if you like it

Remove the stalk and the rough outer leaves from the artichokes, cut them in half, and remove their hairy centers. Cut them into thin strips and place them in a bowl with water and lemon juice.

Open the broad beans and remove their extra skin. In a pan, cook the chopped onion until soft, then add the artichokes and the broad beans and cook for 4-5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper and add another splash of lemon juice before cooking for another 5-6 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender.

Cook the Tortiglioni until "al dente", drain them and add them to the sauce and mix everything together. Finish the dish with some chopped Italian parsley and grated Pecorino cheese.

Happy Easter Monday to everyone!

Comment (0)

Pasta with asparagus, pancetta and pecorino cheese.

We are definitely in April... ok, maybe outside there is still a bit of rain and wind, but of course we hope in sunny and hot days soon!
 
Have you already been to your local fruit and veg shop or to your market, if you are so lucky to have one near? I did and I couldn't wait to buy some asparagus. They weren't the best ones yet, but at least fresh and in season!
 
I wanted to cook a recipe I have done once using rice. This time instead I wanted to use pasta so I needed to make it just a bit different: asparagus, pancetta and instead of the goat cheese, perfect to make the rice creamy, I added some pecorino cheese, salty and with a strong taste perfect for the pancetta and the delicate asparagus.

Here is this easy recipe to enjoy these spring vegetables:  
Ingredients for 3-4 people:

- 350 g di fusillata casareccia or pennoni (like mine in the picture) Pastificio dei Campi.

- 250 g wild asparagus.

- 100 g pancetta

- 1 onion

- 50 g grated pecorino

- Extra-virgin olive oil

- Salt and pepper  
Wash and chop the asparagus into small pieces, leaving the tips a bit longer. Slice the pancetta into strips and lightly cook them in a pan with a bit of olive oil.

Remove the pancetta and in the same pan, lightly brown the chopped onion, then add the asparagus. Taste for salt and pepper, add a few spoonfuls of water, and let cook for about 10 minutes.

Cook the pasta until al dente, then mix them in the pan with the asparagus and pancetta. Complete the dish with a sprinkling of grated pecorino, black pepper and serve!

For any other spring inspiration check here.

I hope you will enjoy!

Comment (2)

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!

Comment (0)

Joining the worldwide ola of Homemade Pesto Genovese

Today, 17th of January is International Day of Italian Cuisines again, and this time is all dedicated to the Pesto Genovese.

As in the past editions, the IDIC is a worldwide celebration of authentic and quality Italian Cuisine, to defend it from bogus and counterfeiting. Hundreds of chefs and restaurateurs all around the world will prepare simultaneously on today Pesto Genovese with pasta, according to an authentic recipe. 

All the food lovers too where invited to join the ola and cook some Pesto, and i couldn't miss this international call to action.

The International Day of Italian Cuisines is born from a mission: "we certainly aim at educating worldwide consumers, but more than anything else, we want to protect their right to get what they pay for when going to eateries labeled as "Italian", that is: authentic and quality Italian cuisine." says Rosario Scarpato, GVCI Honorary President, and IDIC 2011 Director.

With this in mind,  today i won't  just give you here the most classic and official recipe for the real pesto, but i will also tell you about the best combination of pasta you can have with this sauce.

But let's start from the recipe as written by the cooperative of the Pesto Genovese:

- 50 gr of fresh young basil leaves.

- 1 big spoon of pine nuts

- 6 spoons of Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese freshly grated.

- 2 spoons of Pecorino cheese

- 2 garlic cloves

- 10 gr of  gritty salt

- Half a glass of  Extra Virgin Olive Oil (better if it's from “Ligurian Riviera” d.o.p.)

- and finally 600 gr Trofie Pastificio dei Campi (the name comes from the genoese dialect and the way to call the manual movement necessary to create the shape).

The procedure is quite easy, but to be traditional, you will need a marble mortar and a wooden pestle. This because instead to chop the leaves you will need to crush them to have the leaves' oil necessary for the sauce.

Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them on a paper towel. Don't squeeze them.
Then crush in the mortar the garlic clove the pine nuts and the basil leaves, add  the salt, the Parmesan, the Pecorino cheese and keep pounding using a light circular movement of the pestle.

Add some of the Extra Virgin Olive from time to time and keep  mixing until  you obtain  a smooth creamy sauce. Pesto should not be greasy and the amount of oil used must be well absorbed and not floating on top.

Trofie and Trenette are the pasta used in Liguria, however linguine or spaghetti al dente will make a good companion to this sauce. The original recipe also says to cook the pasta in the water with french green beans and potatoes and serve all together dressed with pesto (more like a salad type of dish), but you can just mix this with pasta and will be great!

Comment (0)