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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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 recipe chosen after the british cheese week

 
It's definitely autumn and almost Halloween and so have to be the season also for... pumpkins! I love them but I admit I cook them really rarely. Pumpkins are so sweet and tasty and they go so well with certain herbs that every recipe is a new discovery.
This time I decided to use the butternut squash and a special cheese I bought from the british cheese week!

I went in fact to Neal's Yard Dairy last week, the amazing cheese shop that you can see in these pictures. I was looking for the Kilree Goat's Cheese that won lots of prices this year, but I couldn’t find it so they gave me a  very interesting cheese to cook with: Berkeswell an unpasteurized sheep's milk cheese , creamy, with nutty flavor and a bit different from the average english cheeses as also Chrispople says on his blog.

  I then thought about pumpkins and  I found an interesting recipe with cream of pumpkins and salted pumpkins, rosemary, pumpkins seeds and pancetta... but then I also saw some streaky bacon and it was a deal.
 
This is the recipe for 3 people:
 
- 300 gr Pennoni Pastificio dei Campi

- a little butternut squash,

- 150gr of Berkswell cheese,

- onion

- rosemary

- some pumpkins seeds,

- olive oil,

- butter salt

- and streaky bacon .

Let’s start by the cream: in a sauce pan put some finely chopped onions and olive oil. Let the onions get goldish and then add the pumpkin pealed and cut in little cubes. Add some white wine and when evaporated, some salt and just water. At this point I also added some rosemary.
When the pumpkin was almost melted I added the cheese in little cubes too (leaving some of it a part) and I stirred until all became a cream. You can use even the blender if you want.

While the water for the pasta was boiling, in another pan I put the rest (1/3) of the pumpkin cut in julienne (little sticks) with a bit of butter, rosemary and pumpkin seeds.
I added some salt to the pumpkin and the streaky bacon… just amazing colors all together and the smell was great.
When the pasta was al dente I added the pasta to the pan with the cream of pumpkin and the rest. I toss it all on a low fire and then I served it with some more grated cheese on top, fresh rosemary and pumpkin seeds.
A nice way to welcome the autumn! I hope you will enjoy like we did!

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A recipe to celebrate the local producers and the good food.

Today it's for the second time Terra Madre Day, a celebration of food diversity and the right to good, clean and fair food, organized by Slow Food. Last year  more than 1,000 events took place across 120 countries. Lots of different events have been organized this year too and you can find all of them here.

Following the invite by Carlo Petrini, Slow food International President, to highlight today the importance of eating locally, I thought could have been nice to create a recipe with english and italian ingredients made by local, traditional and very careful producers.

It so happens that i have been finally to Taste of Christmas the past weekend and between stands of wines, fudges, bread and cheeses, I found also the english cheese winner of the title of World Champion Cheese 2010: the Cornish Blue, a handmade ArtisanFarmhouse Cheese from Cornwall, right case of english local producer.

I couldn't miss the occasion to buy it and considering the taste, similar to Gorgonzola but much less strong (I'm simplifying just to let all of you understand), I though to put it together with walnuts, a classic seasonal ingredients!

Then Pasta di Gragnano PGI from Pastificio dei Campi with its old history and traditional and careful way to produce the pasta, from the  bronze extraction to the drying process, it's a perfect representative of a local south italian producer.

So here is my "locally sourced" recipe!

Ingredients for 3 people:

300 gr Mezzi Occhi di Lupo from Pastificio dei Campi

120 gr of cheese gorgonzola

60 gr  walnuts

40gr butter

Finely chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

The preparation is not very long so i suggest you to put some  water on the fire as soon as you start. Then add some salt and the pasta when it's boiling. Meanwhile in a saucepan melt the butter then add the chopped cheese and let melt it too over low heat, stir well together until the mixture is as smooth and creamy as possible.

Then take the walnuts and chop them finely,  the more the better. Add them to the pan and stir well, to mix all together. If the cheese tends to stick to the pan just add some water from the pasta.

When this is ready and "al dente", drain it  and pour into the pan with the sauce and toss it. I serve it without Parmesan to don't miss the Cornish blue's taste, but with some chopped parsley.

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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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All the best flavors from the autumn for a vegetarian pasta 

- 600gr pumpkin already clean (it's better the taste of the bigger pumpkin respect to the little ones)

Put the dried mushroom in a container and cover them with warm water. Wait around 20 minutes and drain them, being careful to keep the water from the mushroom. 

Put some Olive oil in a pan with the chopped onion. Cook it until goldish and then add the pumpkin cut in little pieces. Let it cook a bit in the oil and then add the sage, the rosemary, some salt, pepper and the white wine. The pumpkin will take a bit to cook and get soft (at least 20 minutes) and you will need to add the water from the mushroom every now and then to let it cook.

In another pan you will prepare the mushrooms: put some olive oil with the garlic cloves and let it cook until goldish. Then take the garlic off and add the fresh mushrooms in slices with some chopped parsley. Let it cook in the garlic oil until ready.

Prepare the saucepan for the pasta with some a good quantity of water and salt and add the pasta when boiling.

At this point add the Porcini and the fresh mushrooms to the pan with the pumpkin and finish to add the mushroom water or some stock water if this is already finished. Let it cook until is all mixed and the pumpkin is soft and then taste it, to see if you need some more salt, pepper or chili. You can even add some Parmesan now, if you like it.

Drain the Pennoni and toss them with the sauce. Let them absorb the flavors and serve it with a last touch of parmesan on the top. 

What do you think? was it enough of a treat to avoid the Halloween tricks?

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From Brazil to UK everyone cooking pasta and enjoying it!

Yesterday was the World Pasta Day and after New York, the place chosen this year for the big celebration was Brazil, third world producer of pasta. From the first congress in Rome in 1995, delegations from various countries once a year discuss together the theme of the collective promotion in favour of pasta consumption, exchanging their ideas and experiences.

The first event was successfully carried through, thanks to the efforts of the Steering Committee, consisting of representatives of the National Pasta Association (United States), of UN.A.F.P.A. and of the Associations of Venezuela and of Turkey.

The objective of World Pasta Day is "to draw the attention of the media and consumers to pasta. Communication should underline the fact that pasta is a global food, consumed in all five continents, having unquestionable merits, appropriate for a dynamic and healthy life style capable of meeting both primary food requirements and those of high-level gastronomy".

I wanted to participate as well in this celebration and i decided to cook a nice and easy spaghetti dish with courgettes and Taleggio cheese.

Last weekend in fact in Southbank in London, was organized a nice Cheese and Wine Festival, that i couldn't miss. Lots of different producers from France, England and Italy came to sell their products and the atmosphere was really great.

I had a little tour between the stands and the activities organized there: there were short wine taste courses, champagne stands, but also products from bakeries were been sold... and of course lots of cheese. I bought some french "Bleu d'Auvergne" to eat on some fresh bread as a starter and some italian Taleggio to cook a new pasta recipe.

I know that a very good combination is Taleggio with "Radicchio rosso" a kind of red chicory, very typical of the north east of Italy, but quite difficult to find here. So i decide to use another vegetable, easier to find and cook: the courgettes were the right choice because with their delicate taste, they can create a  good mix with the italian cheese without covering it or disappearing.

Wash and cut the courgettes in thin slices or even in little pieces and stripes. Put some oil in a pan with the shallot chopped finely. Let it cook a bit and when tender add the courgettes, salt and pepper. Wait for them to absorb some of the oil and when they start to fry, add a glass of white wine.

When evaporated, cover the pan and wait for the courgettes to cook and get mild and colored. In the meantime boil some water, then add salt and the spaghetti. If the courgette are getting too dry, add some milk or water from the pasta to let them cook and become tastier.

When the pasta is ready, add to the courgettes the Taleggio cut in little cubes and then the drained pasta. Toss it all a bit until the Taleggio is melted and mixed with the courgettes.

Serve it hot with some Parmesan, pepper or chili on top.

Enjoy the World Pasta Day!

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