Why not try them with some cuttlefish?

During one of my little holidays back home, I get inspired by my roman market, so the next one will be a colorful and tasty dish to change a bit your pasta habit.

Last Monday my mum told me she was going to the market, so I thought could have been nice to post here some pictures of the market that I always tell you about.

All these colors, all the vibe of the people at the stands and all the beautiful products... They blew my mind and I couldn't resist from buying the ingredients for my next recipe: zucchini blossoms and little squids.

I decide to cook them with some Spaghetti Pastificio dei Campi and here are all the ingredients I used for 2 people:

6-8 zucchini blossoms

150 gr. of Spaghetti or Vermicelli Pastificio dei Campi

6-8 little cuttlefish

Some white wine

Oil, salt, pepper, chili

and a bit of grated pecorino cheese.

Clean the cuttlefish or buy them already cleaned. Cut them in half and put them in a pan with some hot oil and a garlic clove. Let them cook and color a bit. Add the white wine and let evaporate.

Then add the flowers cleaned from the inside and cut in half.

Put the water for the pasta to boil with some salt and when boiling, add the spaghetti. Let the spaghetti cook al dente, while adding salt, pepper and chili to the pan.

When the spaghetti are ready, drain them and toss them in the pan with the rest. Serve in a plate with some grated pecorino cheese and a sparkle of chili! Enjoy the color and the taste of the hot roman spring!

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The right recipe for these rainy days

Rain rain and more rain!
It was a long time that I wasn’t complaining about the weather, but I have to say that now it’s a bit too much. It’s almost one month that rains without stop and also if it’s not too much cold, for sure this is not the weather you expect in spring.
Thanks God, last saturday when I went to the market the sun decided to appear for few hours and I could enjoy a nice stroll and some shopping. I could see already some english asparagus between the amount of colorful vegetables , but I didn’t feel like cooking something with that yet.

I was actually more interested in something hot, and comfy, maybe baked... And here it was ... A nice cauliflower! I have read in fact that this is the best month for them in UK and so the shopping was done and the recipe came just after: "I will do a typical english dish revisited in an italian way.... With pasta of course!"

Here is the recipe for my Cauliflower cheese baked pasta and the ingredients for 4 people:

320 gr of Mezze Maniche Rigate Pastificio dei Campi

200 gr cauliflower florets

80 gr of shelled hazelnuts 

30 gr of grated parmesan

120gr of grated mature cheddar cheese

30 gr of butter

salt, pepper and a bit of chilli too

Cook the cauliflower florets in boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes, then drain them maintaining the water to cook the pasta. Mash them a bit in a pan where you have previously put some olive oil and a garlic clove. Smash the hazelnuts in little pieces but don't make a powder.

Cook the pasta in the cauliflower water adding salted water. Drain when al dente and pour into the pan with the cauliflower florets, add the hazelnuts, some pepper and chilli, the grated cheddar cheese and a bit of grated parmesan and stir until the cheese is melted.

Pour the preparation into a greased baking dish with the butter, sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and cook in oven at 180 ° C for 30 minutes. Serve piping hot and enjoy!

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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.

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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!

P.s. A little curiosity: do you know that "Tortiglione" isn’t just a form of pasta? It’s also a typical symbol for lathe working, characterized by a spiral design that gives this pasta its name.

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Some Italian inspirations for you

I finally came back to Italy for these traditional familiar holidays and also if this Friday we are still trying to be careful with the food (it's the last one before Easter and the most important) we are already speaking about the Easter menu.

Normally the main dishes in Easter are represented by the meat and especially by the classic lamb, usually served with roasted potatoes. This is the real tradition respected in the majority of the italian families.

Very famous of course are also the sweets and desserts: the classic Colomba, where the dough is made in a similar manner to panettone but it usually contains candied peel and no raisins and it's topped with pearl sugar and almonds. We use to buy some chocolate eggs too but for me the top of the top is represented by a piece of Pastiera, one of my favorite cakes, and a real classic in this time.

Pastiera is a type of Italian cake made with ricotta cheese. It was used during the pagan celebrations of the return of the Spring time and it is a typical cake during Easter time. The modern pastiera was probably invented in a Neapolitan convent. An unknown nun wanted that cake, symbol of the Resurrection, to have the perfume of the flowers of the orange trees which grew in the convent’s gardens. 

But what about the pasta? I didn’t remember any specific pasta dish prepared for this day, and instead there are lots of recipes traditionally cooked in this occasion. 

We find, according to region: the northern beef broth with fresh pasta or ravioli; some very fulfilling dishes like lasagna or timballi and baked pasta rolls filled with fresh seasonal vegetables and cheese in Emilia Romagna. In Abruzzo and Calabria it's traditional to prepare a ragu’ with lamb or goat meat then added to fresh or dry pasta. I can already seen some nice Mafaldina with it.

Finally some fresh pasta with seafood and peas on the Amalfi Coast and for people like me who don’t really enjoy lamb or too heavy dishes, I just suggest to use some great seasonal vegetable like artichokes or again asparagus with our good pasta from Gragnano. Anything can go wrong with it.

What I’m going to cook on Sunday? You will see it on Monday! In the meantime I wish a great Easter day to all of you.

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No meat, not fish, but still amazing dishes

Everyone knows how much in Italy we can be attached to the traditions and to our religion (not everyone of course but a good majority) so in this time of the year, the Lent, lots of people try to be a bit more careful about their diet, if not fasting, or just about their behaviors.

It’s not of course to follow the religion in a really strict way, but more because it's a time to stop and think about the real meaning of some festivities.

Since I’m in London I have always been shocked by the Ramadan and the strength these people have to don’t eat and even drink for almost a full day. I have never tried something like this and not even the minimum limitation suggested by my religion to be sincere, but I decided to behave a bit better at least this last days before Easter.

Speaking about food I decide to indulge less in sweets and be a bit more careful about meat and fish and i was surprised by the amount of good recipes are cooked in Italy in this period. So tonight I will cook something light, perfect for the spring and finally totally vegetarian and traditional at the same time.

I will cook Pasta Mista di Gragnano with peas and potatoes. The ingredients for 2-3 people are:

- 150 g Pasta mista corta del Pastificio dei Campi

- 1 kg peas (in their pods)

- 500 g potatoes

- 1 clove garlic

- 1 l water

- Extra-virgin olive oil

- Salt and pepper

Chop the potatoes into small pieces and lightly brown them in a large casserole with the garlic and some oil, then add the peas (which have previously been soaked and then drained). Add some freshly ground pepper and salt and taste. Add a generous amount of hot water. Cover the casserole and cook for about half an hour over medium heat, making sure that the soup does not become too dense.

After half an hour add the pasta mista corta from Gragnano and let cook, mixing from time to time. Turn off the heat before the indicated cooking time is completed (8 minutes instead of 9) and let sit for 4-5 minutes before serving with some fresh olive oil and ground pepper.

Edit: Here is the picture i promised you.  I hope you will enjoy this and lots of other recipes you can find here and that can help you in this week.

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From wine to design, from lifestyle to some “Squisito” food

 
This is the month with the most important expositions ever in Italy: wine, design and food!
From the 4th to the 11th in Verona there was the Vinitaly, the most famous exhibition about wine in Italy, that this year is arrived at its 45th edition.
 
Here is all about the presentations of new wine labels, meetings and appointments to promote Italian wines in the global market. Each year four thousand of exhibitors from around the world, come to present the top of their production.
Five days of great events including tastings of wines and spirits, wineries overviews of the various Italian regions and a full program of conferences, forums and seminars to shed light on prospects for the future.

Tomorrow instead will start the Salone del Mobile in Milan (50th edition), the biggest furniture Fair about design and not just italian but from all over the world. It's a week of madness in Italy with lots of parties all around the city in an amazing mood. Even the fashion designers and any kind of brand are creating something really specific for the event. Every bit of creativity is called to action.
 
Finally how could the food miss all this posivite spring vibe??? And Squisito! is in fact just behind the corner.This event is held in San Patrignano near Rimini, in a community who host young people with drugs problems and that provide them with the possibility to study for a carrier.

On the 29th of April great chefs, journalists and expert of the sector will meet there , to discuss the chain of food, seasonal produce and sustainable patterns of production and quality food. Above all, how young people can approach and professional training in one of the many jobs offered by the food and wine, as is the case for many of the 1,500 young guys in San Patrignano.

Squisito! is a large container where to find workshops dedicated to the great artisans of taste and buy the best tasting products of our country. Pastificio dei Campi is there every year, with its products, its story and passion for the traditional way to produce pasta.

Why not a quick spring holiday in Italy to enjoy part of the party?

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