Pasta e Patate: one of the cheapest and tastiest recipes ever

Considering the really rainy Saturday just passed and some cold days we still have ahead, I decided to cook what it could probably be the last pasta soup recipe of this season.
 
For the occasion, and in the Oscar's mood,  I decided to follow the recipe of one of the most famous Neapolitan actors of the past: Eduardo De Filippo. He was a very funny and intelligent man who acted in lots of famous play in Italy. He was an actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet  and he was so famous that in 1981, De Filippo was appointed life senator of the Italian Republic.

He also loved to cook and in the south traditional way of course, so when he died the wife wrote a book with all his recipes and tips: “Si cucine cumme vogli'i' (Cooked in the way I want).  
Curious to know a little bit more? Here is the delicious potatoes pasta soup I prepared yesterday. The ingredients for 5-6 people are:

- 500gr potatoes

- an onion

7-8 cherry tomatoes

-olive oil, salt, chili

- fresh parsley

- 300gr Pasta Mista, in this case Pastificio dei Campi
 

Put some oil in a pan with the onions and the cherry tomatoes in pieces. Let them cook a bit and then add salt, chili and the potatoes cut in little cubes.
 
Let it absorb the nice sauce and then add the water until cover all. Put down the fire a bit, cover with the tap and let it cook.
 
When the potatoes will soft (but not too much) add a bit more water and the pasta. The mix shape of the pasta will make a perfect mix with the potatoes in pieces and cooking it with the rest will create a nice and dense soup.
 
When ready,if you want it a bit less dense add some water, or just serve it in a plate with some Parmesan, fresh olive oil and some fresh chopped parsley! I’m sure you will love it.

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Pasta from Gragnano: still made in the old way and in your kitchen everyday

Today I want to give you some other learning about pasta and especially about the Pasta from Gragnano. I translated this article published on an italian newspaper and I hope this will give you a better idea of what we mean for high quality pasta when we speak about these product.

"It's easy to say pasta. In fact, is produced everywhere since long time. But if we are talking about the pasta from Gragnano, then we know that we are dealing with more than five hundred years of history and tradition.

It belongs to the category of dry pasta and is made in various shapes - now 340 - many of whom belong to the local tradition: the "candles", about two feet long, the "mafaldine" created in honor of Mafalda di Savoia, the " Tripolini "dedicated to the colonial conquest of the Libyan cities of Tripoli and the pasta Piedigrotta, inspired by the eponymous party in Naples. Anyway the most famous  shape remains the "Paccheri.

The historical texts and literature about the "Pasta from Gragnano PGI,"(deservedly received on the 28th August 2010) show that the production of "Pasta Gragnano" dates back to the XVI - XVII century and is closely linked to historical events that have occurred over the years in the territory of Gragnano. Here is the root of the typical product of our territory, the ancient town famous for the quality of the macaroni, located in the Valley of the Mills in the south of the Gulf of Naples. But what are the requirements before a product may dare the nominee?
In first place the Pasta from Gragnano PGI must be made solely from flour made from durum wheat. The mixture uses water from the springs of Mount Faito. The product must have the following characteristics: a homogeneous appearance with no white or black spots, air bubbles, cracks or cuts, mold, maggots or parasites. The section of fracture should be glassy, and the colour, a pale yellow.

And then a roughness which feature the use of bronze dies. At cooking, the "Pasta Gragnano" PGI has a firm texture and elasticity, homogeneity of cooking: uniform, holding a good and long cooking, a stickiness absent or imperceptible.
 

The production process is, after mixing and kneading, extruding through bronze dies, giving the desired shape. The procedure in bronze gives the pasta - even the smooth one - a rough surface that makes it particularly suitable to hold sauces and condiments.

The next stage of the production is the drying process, which varies depending on the shapes and in any case is at a temperature between 40 and 80 ° C for a period of between 6 and 60 hours in static cells to drain or tunnel where it circulates hot air. Completed the process of drying the paste is allowed to cool and within 24 hours should be wrapped, without being carried, to allow a perfect preservation."

Do you want to know more? Just write a question in the comments and I will involve the real people from Gragnano and from Pastificio dei Campi to answer.

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Converting people to the real italian pasta taste!

On Saturday and Sunday I was protagonist of a really interesting tasting session in Harvey Nichols in London. This is the main chain where you can find our products in the UK and we decided to offer to all the visitors in London a little bite of our pasta.

We started our session around 12 o'clock both the days and I have to admit it was all really well organized, the staff nice and the customers happy and interested in the black and red brand.

We placed a little table exposing our products and me, Linguina in person, cooked pasta for everyone. Just simple tomato sauce and Parmesan, but thanks to the good quality of the pasta, it was everything very good and even easy to maintain "al dente".

Everyone could try the Eliche, Lumache and even Calamarata, and all of the visitors discovered the real difference between this pasta and the one they are used to! I was keep on saying that one bite could tell them much more than 2000 words, because until you don't try it, you can't really believe in the difference.

This pasta is naturally tasty, consistent and special, because made by 100% pure italian Durum wheat. It's slow dried, thing that maintains the pasta tasty and reach with the 14% of proteins, while the bronze dye make it rough on top and able to absorb the sauce in a unique way.

I'm not just here to impress you all being particularly auto - celebratory. I'm saying this because I saw it on the face of the people when they were trying the pasta. It's all true and you can taste it!

So next time don't loose this occasion and come to taste it you too! You will be surprised!

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Some tips to recognize a really good pasta from the most common one.
 

After speaking about the recent English passion for food, and after the quick look at some tech tools that can help you in the kitchen, it's time I gave you some important related tips starting with some basic facts.

 

For an Italian dinner, pasta is your main ingredient and has to be chosen with care and attention: you will need to keep these tips in mind when you want to buy and eat the best pasta!

What really determines a good quality of pasta? Color, texture, smell, ingredients, origin and packaging. And I will explain why!

It all starts from the durum wheat. For Pasta dei Campi for example, it uses just italian grain, taken from an area of about 250 km around Gragnano. For the Pastificio it's very important that the grain has been cultivated in a place with historical tradition in a region like Puglia, Basilicata, Molise or Irpinia. This durum wheat has a protein content of around the 14%, compared to a normal value of about 10,5% found in classic production. It is also rare to find this type of pasta in Italy. This  amount of protein will give the consistency, taste and smell to the pasta.

 

The harvest happens just in the right moment of the maturation of the grain, the stocking follows straight away and it’s done in the same area for a perfect conservation of the prime product.
This will then be milled with care (with a low power machine) to maintain all it's original fragrance. The preparation of the mix is a delicate equilibrium between lots of components: the water temperature, semolina grain and the climate conditions. The pasta maker will coordinate them in a way to always reach the best mix possible.

Another very important factor is the bronze extraction. This material entering in contact with the pasta, will create that rough surface that will help the union with the sauce. But this has to be made in the right measure: not too rough and not too smooth.

Then there is the drying process that has to be slow and at a low temperature to maintain the fragrance. It is essential to complete all of this work and the work mentioned previously in the best way possible. This will give the pasta the right color, which should be yellowish and not amber or orange.

Finally there is the packing, completed by hand to avoid destroying the pasta. The combination of these methods should result in the highest quality pasta.

So next time you are in the supermarket, check where the pasta is made, what the ingredients are, if it looks a bit rough, and finally if the color is yellowish and not amber, dark or closer to orange.

Then if you will try Pastificio dei Campi, you will really understand the difference!

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