Pastificio Dei Campi and italian cheeses will do the trick.

 
If Charles de Gaulle used to say "How can you be expected to rule a country that has over 200 kinds of cheese?”,  what can happen in Italy where at the moment there are more than 400? We have in fact more than 20 region with more than 20 cheeses each? Maybe now I can understand why we have so many political problems especially in the latest times :).
 
However exactly thinking about this and about one of the most famous pasta recipe abroad, I decided to do my own italian version of Maccheroni and cheese.

This dish in fact doesn't really exist in our italian traditions and all our recipes refer to America and American movies. What we have instead is the pasta with 4 cheeses, that's a very common dish, quick to prepare and always good. So why don't do a baked version.
 
I then went to the italian delicatessen near my house to get some inspirations to choose cheeses and after lots of thinking about Fontina, Asiago, Smoked Scamorza, I finally decided to use Gorgonzola DOC, Provolone Valpadana e Raschera DOP, a new cheese that I wanted to taste. It has a fine and delicate flavour, slightly spicy and they said it’s good for baking and coocking in general. I thought it could be a perfect substitute for the Fontina.
 
Because I have previously made the other baked pasta with fusilli,  I decided to make this with the tubetti, a short but chunky pasta with strips and a good shape to keep the cheeses sauce.

These the ingredients i used for 3 people:
- 300gr pasta Tubetti Rigati Pastificio dei Campi
- 30gr butter
- 30gr Provolone cheese
- 30gr Raschera cheese
- 60gr Gorgonzola
- 50gr Grated Parmesan
- 50gr flour
- 250ml milk
- Salt, pepper, nutmeg and some breadcrumbs
 
Prepare some besciamella (my real italian secret instead of single cream or cream fresh) with the butter and the flour. Then add the milk cooking all on a very low fire. Add spices and mix until get creamy. Then add the grated cheeses and let them melt.
 
In the meantime cook the pasta until almost done (2 minutes before the time of the box) and when ready drain it and put it in the cheeses.
 

Turn on the oven at 180 degree and put some butter on the inside of a baking pan and cover it with breadcrumbs. Then add the pasta and cover it all with some more Parmesan and breadcrumbs. Let it cook for 20-25 minutes until goldish on the top. Serve it and enjoy all the pure italian flavours.

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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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From the basic vegetables in your market to an healthy recipe for the winter.

We are almost at the end of January and the good resolutions need a bit of a push to stay with us: eating less, healthier, eating more vegetable and fruit or simply cooking everything at home. Whatever was your resolution or whatever is your need, just check out this recipe of the classic italian minestrone because is something you can cook anywhere and at any time, giving you the energy and all the vitamins you need.

It's good for kids, especially if you can blend it and serve it with Parmesan, like italian mums use to do. It's great alone as any other fresh homemade soup, and finally it's a complete and delicious meal with the addition of  pasta and some grated Parmesan. 

I have to admit i have tried once the minestrone soup they sell in boxes, but i can tell you the taste of this it's totally different. I don't even know which ingredients they choose to made that.

However here is the recipe for 4 people:

1 celery stick

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 carrots

2 courgettes

1 big potatoes

1 little cabbage or half if too big

some parsley salt, pepper

150gr of chopped tomatoes sauce

200gr Borlotti beans (soaked the night before)

and 300-350gr of  Tubetti Rigati from Pastificio dei Campi

Place some olive oil in a pan and hot it up. Then add the finely chopped onion, garlic cloves and parsley. When the onion starts to become goldish, add the peeled tomatoes sauce and the beans already drained by the water.

Mix it all and let it cook. In the meantime cut the cabbage in thin slices and then in half again. Add it to the pan and pour a good quantity of water. Mix all the ingredients every now and then to avoid them to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Wash and cut in cubes the courgettes, the carrots and the potato, and then add them too to the pan. let it cook for around 20-30 minutes and then have a try to know if it's missing some salt, pepper or anything else.

When the Borlotti are cooked, add the pasta, Tubetti rigati, the right pasta shape for this dish. These are little tubs but quite thick and with the little stripes they are perfect to enjoy all the different textures of the ingredients.

Let the pasta cook in the same pan with the soup so the starch released will give taste and thickness to the minestrone. When ready, serve it hot with some grated Parmesan, parsley or simply olive oil if you like it.

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