An occasion to meet Pastificio dei Campi too.

We are happy to announce that we are part of this big event starting today at London Olympia: MasterChef Live 2011.

You probably know very well the Tv programme MasterChef, great occasion for lots of people passionate about cooking and food to try the street of the success, challenging them self with recipes and complicate dishes until the selection of the best one. Based on that show, this event will let you take part to the live challenge, at least as the audience if not as a contestant. (Thanks for the picture at the blog Morethancupcakes.com)

From today until Sunday (11-13 November)  in fact in Olympia  there will be plenty of good food, chefs, restaurant experiences, tasting sessions, wine and food shows, challenges between contestants and real chefs and lot more.

Come and see John Torode and Gregg Wallace, get a master class from Michel Roux Jr. Also, watch MasterChef Professionals Champion of 2010, Claire Lara or cook-off against this year’s MasterChef Champion, Tim Anderson. Come to see the Producers' Village, a space just dedicated to local producers who specialise in seasonal and home-grown produce. But especially…come to meet us at the stand F24.

And if you really can’t be there with us, follow me on Twitter (@linguinadc) and check my Facebook page, to have all the latest news and pictures directly from the event.

See you there?

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Old english sausages ragu'

It’s again the time of the year when it’s tradition to cook and eat sausages all around UK: from the 31^st of October to the 6^th of November it was “the sausage week”. If you have been out on the 5^th of November for the bonfire night, you probably know that the traditional dish of the day is bangers and mash, but lots are the recipe you can find with sausages… even in the italian cuisine.

So for my weekend I decide to treat me with a new pasta recipe: Penne a candela with sausages ragu’.

For the occasion I went in a specialized butcher near Marylebone: The Ginger Pig… no other name could be more right for the product I was looking top buy. The shop was full of costumers and the smell of the sausages I bought it was irresistible. I choose the Old English Sausage, just made with english pork and herbs.

Here is the recipe for 3-4 people:

- 350/400 gr of  pasta: we hardly recommend Penne a Candela Pastificio dei Campi

- 3 sausages

- A jar of peeled tomatoes

- Half onion

- olive oil

- A glass of red wine

- Salt and pepper

- Fresh rosemary

Place some oil on the bottom of a pot, and soon after the finely chopped onion. Let it cook a bit and then add the sausage. Take off the skin and mince it in the pot. Let it get brown and then add the wine slowly. Then add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Let simmer, stirring occasionally for about half an hour.

Prepare the pasta al dente then drain it and toss it in the sauce for a few minutes before serving. Add some Parmesan if you like but I can tell you that without is divine anyway!

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It's out now with lots of tips.

 
Written by Rose Prince columnist for the Telegraph and expert of food, markets and gastronomy, the Good Produce Guide 2012 it's really a little treasure... especially for someone like me, coming from abroad and with almost no knowledge about english traditional producers. I can tell you one or two things about italian food and typical regional products but it's not the same for the english ones.
 
So I really enjoyed reading through the various categories of this book from markets to deli, from butcher(always hard to find here) and bakery or artisanal producers.

I mean I have already my faithful italian delis ( Melograno and Foodinthecity ), but is always good to know where else you can buy good food if you are in the other side of the city!  And I have particularly appreciated for this reason the map that comes at the end of the book ( that I would just divide in color to make it easier to read) and that can guide you in the different areas of London and UK.
 
And what to say about the list of seasonal english products and the festival calendar? Great! And if in the future i will visit some other english place I'll easily bring this with me or i will check before to go to discover all the best food from the nation.

So yesterday i put the guide under test and I had a look at all the places around Covent Garden, where I was and I found not 1 but 3 great places for a really good cup in the afternoon: these were Drury coffee near Leicester square, the Tea palace in Covent Garden Market and finally Monmouth Caffe that I listened lots of time but that I actually never tried yet! So I went there and it was great: fresh coffe beans and great pastries… irresistible!

Do you want to pick the best of what UK can offer, or you just want to have good food that you can trust in... Let this guide inspire you! And if you are looking for a 100% italian and artisanal PGI pasta, don't forget us ;)

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Lunch at Fornata and a quick stop in Melograno Deli

 
What does it means when daddy is at home? That excitement and positive vibe is in the air and everyone starts to organize lunches, dinners and coffees trying to meet him, while he is rushing and jumping from a place to another. You need to be quick if you want to reach him.
 
So in all this messaging, texting, chatting, being careful about scheduling and flight-trains departures, I was lucky enough to meet him in Fornata where we enjoyed a quick but great lunch with Niccolo from Foodinthecity too!

A part from the classic and well known starters made of Arancini with meat ragu' and Mozzarella in carrozza (delicious), we had directly from the artistic inspiration of the chef Douglas Santi this great pasta mista dish with courgettes, endive, anchovies, a sprinkle of chili (soo tasty) all combined by just a bit of fresh ricotta! Gorgeous! Then we couldn't miss one of the signature dish of the place the FORNATA hamburger: a delicious hamburger in a focaccia. It has all the taste of my childhood bread, the rosetta, that my mum used to give me with the meat, when I wasn't happy about the meal.  

And finally, to complete the feast, we had a slice of tiramisu... And I repeat a slice! Go and try it... I won't tell you anything more but you then will understand what I'm speaking about.
 
I didn't even had the time to finish the dessert that he was already gone for a quick hello to Dino at Melograno! 

Anything else you want to do in the last five minutes before your flight?

Torna presto!

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An amazing mix of flavors to enjoy this funny night

Do you fancy a nice cozy dish for Halloween? If you are going to give a party at home, or going out fancy dressed and full of make up or if you are just ready to wait the children at home for they sweets or tricks, why don't treat yourself with a nice Halloween pasta soup?
 
And if you are carving a pumpkin for your Halloween this is the perfect recipe for you!

For 3 people you will need few simple ingredients:

• 200gr lentils
• 150 gr of pumpking (I prefer butternut squash)
• 200 gr pasta Mista Corta Pastificio Dei Campi
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 celery
• 1/2 onion
• Oil, salt and rosemary

Start preparing a “soffritto” cutting finely the onion, the carot and the celery and fry them in a sauce pan with some olive oil. Then add the lentils (already soaked) and around a litre of water.  Here I added some fresh rosemary  and salt.

Let the lentils cook for some minutes and in the meantime peal the pumpking and cut it in little cubes. Add the pumpking to the rest and let everything cook other 10-20 minutes at least.

When you think it’s everything almost ready, add some more hot water and the pasta. Let it cook with the lentils and the pumpkin but check always the time.

If you didn’t add to much water, this will be evaporated leaving a dense soup after around 10 minutes, time for the pasta to be cooked too. If you want the soup less dense just add more water.

Now the pasta soup is  ready and you can serve it with some fresh rosemary and olive oil.

Enjoy your Halloween night!

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The World Pasta Day conference in Rome and some thoughts

As you probably already know yesterday was the Word Pasta Day and it was celebrated all around the world. This year in particular the World Pasta Day returned to Rome, where IPO (International Pasta Organisation) and AIDEPI (Association of the Italian Pasta and Confectionery Industries) have hosted a special conference: "Pasta, global challenge. New markets and new consumers for food that is conquering the tables of the world" .

Have been invited to the occasion the most important pasta producers, economists, opinion leaders and media around the world and everyone  was there to celebrate this ancient food, rich in history, present on families' tables (and eating habits) in 5 continents and candidate to be the food of the future.

In a time of big pressure and bad news about our future alimentation, pasta seems to be one of the few ingredients that will probably be able to survive on our table. If the fish will disappear and the meat will be maybe not enough for all the planet, if not in danger as we have seen in the past, with viruses or weird genetic mutation, it seems we will be able to count at least on vegetable, fruit, rice and pasta.

Finally in time of poverty and war, this is what kept part of the world alive.

So if yesterday in Rome they tried to "understand how this food will help bring answers to one day dominated by uncertainty and food shortages.", I can also give you a little resume  of what came out from a nice event  organized last week in London by Latitudinal Cuisine “a geo-specific dining group, exploring the world a degree a day, meeting new people and cultures as we eat new cuisine”.

Last thursday in fact I went to their event about “Future of Food: dinner & conversation @ The Hub Westminster”. In this beautiful place in the New Zealand House in London, around 30 food lovers and people worried about environmental and social issues cooked what they think will be the food of the future and came together to enjoy it and exchange their ideas.

There were people that brought traditional food from their country, dishes made with sustainable fish, organic food, cake and tarts made by fruits and vegetable cultivated in their own gardens or even in the guerrilla gardens in London… and there was even someone who brought an amazing salad with fried ... locusts with big surprise of all the group. I brought pasta of course, because I believe in it for our future… and to shake and inspire a bit the audience I tried a sweet pasta recipe, with sugar, maple syrup, grated almonds and organic chocolate.

I used the pasta from Pastificio dei Campi not only because it's PGI and 100% Italian but also because is produced following the oldest artisanal traditions and only  with high quality Italian grain.

I bet pasta will be with us in the future! What do you think?

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Because Locatelli is always Locatelli!

Last week I told you about the London Restaurants Festival. This time I will tell you where I decided to have dinner, taking advantage of the promotional menus offered by some of the most famous restaurants in town during that week.

Between all of them I choose Refettorio, the second Locatelli’s  Restaurant after Locanda Locatelli! I discover it after my first “Taste of London” Festival where I had the chance to try an amazing piadina prepared for me by the same Giorgio Locatelli and where he was speaking about the place.

So I decided last week that was time to go and check their menu. I didn't know it was in an hotel so of course I have to admit the ambient is not too cozy as I could have expected, but the dinner was stunning and absolutely worth the deal.

After a Campari and some canapé, made with simple pasta brise, cherry tomatoes and oregano, I ordered for starter a pasta dish: Conchiglie (seashell shaped pasta) with asparagus tips, Burrata cheese and chives! It was delicious, the fresh ingredients, the combination between them and  the pasta cooked al dente and a quite good portion too.

To drink I had a fantastic Tormaresca Rosso 2008 (Negroamaro Cabernet Sauvignon) from Puglia and as a main course we ordered Stuffed aubergines with parmesan crust, roasted cherry tomatoes, thyme and rocket pesto. Really tasty! But the big main was a pan fried pork medallions, grilled courgettes, Girolles mushrooms and pork sauce. That was just so tender … it was stunning.

Finally I couldn't resist to try the ic ecream: three scoops of ice cream, vanilla, cocoa and Stracciatella, topped with morello cherries and served in a tuile basket. Really good!

Finally for who loves the Sicilian cuisine, be aware that Locatelli has just publish a new recipe book about it “Made In Italy: Food & Stories” and he paired it with a new set menu dedicated to the South of Italy and that you will find in Refettorio.

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