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 brought life to all this dishes and to the night, was Massimo’s passion in cooking and the fact he wanted to 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!

Stay tuned!

Comment (0)

A comfy pasta recipe using cauliflower

 
I have to admit I normally don't use so much cauliflowers in my cuisine. Don't ask me why: I always buy broccoli but never cauliflowers.
 
So the past sunday I really needed a treat and a comfy food especially considering the cold that finally arrived in London town.
 
I wanted a cheesy pasta dish, but still quite balanced, healthy and quick to prepare... but I was also looking for some new taste or combination and I went to the market hoping in some inspiration: I love the pancetta and cheese combo but it was missing a third basic ingredient, and at one point...it was there... a nice cauliflower was waiting for me. 

With its peculiar taste I supposed the salty pancetta and the gorgonzola could have made a great dish. And to make the perfect combination I went for Millerighe Pastificio dei Campi. I was really proud of myself because the recipe is just great!
 
Here are the ingredients I used for 2 people:

- 100 gr pancetta

- 150 gr gorgonzola or a sweet and creamy blue cheese

- 200 gr Pasta Millerighe Pastificio dei Campi

- A little cauliflower

- Some salt and paper

Cut the cauliflower leaves and wash them, than cut the whole plant in little groups of flowers and boil them for some minutes.
In the meantime put some water to boil with some salt and add in a pan a bit of olive oil on a low fire.
Place in the pan the pancetta and after a bit the cauliflower leaves too.

Put the pasta in the boiling water and wait for around 10 minutes mixing with a fork.
When the pasta is almost ready add the gorgonzola to the pan and some of the cauliflower previously cooked and drained. Add some water from the pasta in the pan and let the cheese melt.
When the pasta is “al dente”, toss it in the pan with all the other ingredients and  serve it just with some fresh black pepper. Enjoy!

Comment (0)

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)

From the center of Italy to your table in only 10 minutes.

Have you ever cooked pasta at home? Maybe yes, but what about pastaamatriciana? It's one of the most traditional dishes in Italy, especially in Rome: Amatrice in fact is a town really close to this amazing city . The recipe is very quick, simple but really tasty...
 
This sauce goes particularly well with a special type of pasta: bucatini. Do you know it? It's a long pasta, similar to spaghetti but it's thicker and  bigger and has an hole in the middle! This makes the pasta not too heavy, but still more consistent than a classic spaghetto. Normally this kind of pasta could be quite hard to find in London, but now with Pastificio dei Campi you can find it at Harvey Nichols or online at Food in the city. 

So if you are tired of  always cooking spaghetti with the same tomato sauce, than this is  certainly  the time for you to try this recipe...especially now with the arrive of the new shallots  in the supermarkets! A few simple products will give you a complete and delicious dish, and because it's so quick and easy, why don't invite some friends for dinner like i did last night?

Ingredients for 4 - 5 people:

 - 500 gr of  Bucatini Pastificio dei Campi

 - 2 small shallots

- 200 gr of guanciale, if you can't find this you can use pancetta
 
- 500 gr of tomato passata

- 80 gr of Pecorino romano

- extra virgin olive oil

- salt, pepper and a bit of chilli peppers

Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the guanciale or pancetta cut in little pieces. Then add the chopped shallots (tastier than a regular onion) and wait for them to cook a bit on a medium fire.

When the shallots become transparent, add the tomato passata, with some salt, pepper and the chilli peppers cut  in thin slices. In the meantime boil water with some salt  and when ready add the pasta and cook for around 6 minutes. While you are waiting for the passata and the rest to cook, grate some roman Pecorino cheese. This looks very similar to Parmesan cheese but it's saltier and has a stronger taste.

Check on the sauce. If it’s getting too dry, turn off the fire until the pasta is ready. Then drain the pasta, but keep some water on a side just in case. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss it whilst the pan is on the fire so the pasta will be able to absorb the great sauce and flavours.

Serve it on a plate with some grated pecorino on top and fresh grated black pepper if you like it. I hope you will enjoy the bucatini and this real roman recipe.

Comment (0)