Pin pin pin all the things you like!

Pinterest is a new social tool available online. I know we have plenty of them now but this one is literally taking the web by storm in these days: more and more people are signing in and  have started to... Pin!

A kind of new version of the famous DIGG, i would say, much more 2.0, easy to use, to share, to love. It's really addictive. With this you can simply like and fix on your profile forever all the things you find online and that you would like to have always with you.

You will just need to get an invitation, then sign in (also with your Facebook account) and download the PIN button in your browser tool bar. After this you will be ready to pin whatever you find online and place it in different categories, with your own description.

In the search area you can insert any interest you have and of course i couldn't resist to type food and recipes and you can't imagine what came out ... a paradise of pictures and ideas.

And waiting for my invitation, look what i found!

Look especially the first recipe on the left side.... :)

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To start the year in the best way

Just a few word to thanks who in Christmas gave me a little amazing book that I of course suggest to anyone who have not read it yet: "The Small Pleasures Of Life' by Philippe Delerm.

This treasure is a real small pleasure by itself: it describes the most common and simple happy moments in life but with certain details and realism that you can  almost live again the sensations in your memory.

It's just a compilation of quick pictures of moments of everyone's daily life, but so well described that you finally have the chance to stop and appreciate them even more: the first sip of beer, the dark red of a glass of Porto, the smell of the apple in the cellar etc.

I don't think i can find anything more adequate than this book of precious sensations to wish you a fantastic 2012, full of memories like these.

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To recover from the festivities

Are you  trying to comeback to a normal eating regime, after all you had during this month?
It's known that after all these days of food and drinks you will fell hungry often: doctors says it's useless to do a severe post Christmas detox diet. You will still be hungry and you won't loose so much weight, because the body will feel the need to keep energy and the fat accumulated.

The solution is to have regular and light meals that can keep you fulfilled for longer. Some days ago was even published an article about a Swedish study: Mediterranean diet gives longer life… and we are speaking about 2-3 years more! A diet that sees prevailing vegetables and carbohydrates ensures a long and healthy life, as it helps maintain a healthy weight and reduces the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.

So have a look at this vegetarian pasta: replacing cream with a light cheese like ricotta it’s my secret to have a lighter but tasty dish.

Ingredients for 2 persons:
- 200 gr Spaghetti Pastificio dei Campi
- 100 gr. raw spinach
- a handful of pine nuts
- 100 gr. of ricotta
- 50 gr of smoked cheese (the bavarian one is quite good on this pasta )
- olive oil - salt and pepper
- 1 clove of garlic

Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan. In another pan heat some oil and brown the clove of a garlic, add the spinach, some pepper and let cook a couple of minutes. In a bowl mix the ricotta with a spoon of hot water from the pasta, mix well.

Cook the pasta, drain and pour into the pan, add the pine nuts and ricotta with salt and toss it all. Grate some smoked cheese on top, mix a minute and serve it on a plate.

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A new kind of Deli  in Rome

For Christmas I came back to Italy as usual and I went to discover the latest places opened in the city. One of this is the “Libreria Settembrini”, a tiny special place in Rome, born to answer to different needs.

Settembrini is already a famous café and restaurant in Rome and this year they opened this new space, absolutely innovative in its genre, but cosy and really beautiful. A place to put together the love for books and good food.

At first look is a simple bookshop, little but really nice and with a peculiar selection of book. In the middle it hosts a big wooden table and on a side a mini kitchen that creates simple salads and dishes, ready to hot up and serve in the room. All the ingredients are top quality, like in the same restaurant on the other side of the street, but the meals are quicker and perfect for a brunch or a glass of wine with friends.

We loved the place, the menu, the books and the hampers they were preparing for Christmas…and with my big surprises I even discovered they were selling Pastificio dei Campi pasta, with the tiny duetto box, 250gr of pasta, created for the couples. In the hamper with the pasta there is wine, biscuits, other gourmet ingredients and a nice Christmas book for children.

If you pass by Rome, have a stop in this nice place. I’m sure you will like it!

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Two cool places in one

Are you looking for a special place to go with your partner in these holidays? Or are you organizing a special Christmas lunch or dinner with friends?

I have a special place to tell you about: HIX and the Mark’s bar.

Some weeks ago in fact I had the pleasure to be invited at the restaurant from a friend of mine that is always speaking about it… now I understand why.

The restaurant opened by the chef Mark Hix in 2009 serves pure english cuisine, one of the best I have ever tried. He is frequently lauded as one of London’s most eminent restaurateurs with an unrivalled knowledge of ingredients with provenance. Mark has a monthly column in Esquire, a weekly column in The Independent, and is the author of a number of cookbooks on British cuisine.

The restaurant is on the top while the amazing cocktail bar, in a New York vibe, is downstairs. Here you really have plenty of drinks to try, one better than the other. They are designed by mixologist extraordinaire Nick Strangeway. I suggest to everyone who is thinking to go there to have at least one cocktail downstairs and then go for dinner upstairs or even remain down and try the great dishes offered at the bar. Everything is  perfect and the food is really good.

We spoke with the waitress and she was a real food passionate, knowing all the places where they were sourcing the products. From the cherries to the meat, from the cheeses to the oysters… and of course I asked if they were also serving some pasta dish, but unfortunately they just serves English cuisine. I could really see Pastificio dei Campi in one of Mark’s restaurant. The love for the good food and high quality products is the same that we have.

Get inspired by the amazing cocktails and food we have tried there: Martini Sbagliato, Champaign cocktail, Brookfield farm veal dumpling with creamed Savoy cabbage while my friend took an Hanger steak with baked bone marrow, selection of ice cream with hot chocolate sauce!

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Other Christmas ideas for your presents

Still looking for the latest presents? Are you already planning the shops you will visit this weekend to look for some great Christmas idea? Here i am to help you out.

If last week i told you about the great Maxi Cubes of Pastificio dei Campi, available directly on our website, this time i will give you another idea for your presents.

What about a Christmas hamper filled with the best italian product available on the market? We are sure this will be a present that will make everyone happy and, especially in these times, spend on food is always a good idea. 

And if you are looking for great italian products, i will suggest you to go to Food in the City or to Melograno Deli.

Food in the city is a warehouse based in St. John's wood (London) but it's also a great website where you can order directly online. The hampers you can see here is just and example and you can ask for a bespoke one. Over £40 the delivery is free. 

Have a look and you will remain amazed by the quality of their products. 

Melograno Deli instead is in Holland Park (London) and they are also specialized on italian brands but they also have cheeses, cold cuts and lots of other typical products.

"Our hampers are made with acacia wood accessories (cheeseboards or salad servers) and they can be made up either by us, or with products of the customers choosing."

At this point, I can just suggest you to have a look at the London map and enjoy your weekend of italian delicatessen... and don't forget to add our pasta to your shopping.

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An online unique offer for pasta lovers

As you probably know today is Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving that since 2005 has been recognized as the most successful for sales online. In these days in fact is starting the real Christmas shopping and always more people are doing it online. Quick, easy and no-stress the online shopping  is definitely the best s solution.

And do you know that you can buy even our pasta online? Not just on foodinthecity as  lots already know, but even directly on our website where in fact you won’t just find the normal pasta packages, but some special Maxi pasta Cube available just from our online shop.

What are the Maxi Cube Pastificio dei Campi? For those who has never seen them before, just let me tell you that are the best and more original food present you can give to a real pasta lover:  it's a giant box, always in the shape of a cube, like all the boxes of Pastificio dei Campi, which contains various kinds of pasta.

There is the Maxi Cube tasting, with 5 pounds of pasta Gragnano PGI bronze drawn and slowly dried at low temperature, in 10 very different formats, which represent the most famous Pastificio dei Campi shapes: paccheri, broken candles, ziti, penne rigate, orecchiette, ribbed tubes, spaghetti, linguine. And there is the Custom Cube Maxi, for who knows what he loves and wants to choose in total freedom  the shapes to be included (for a total of 4 kg).

And it’s not finished yet. After the success of last year also the Maxi Cube Selection is on sale again: a gourmet kit, consisting of 4 kg of pasta Pastificio dei Campi, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil DOP from the Sorrentina Peninsula  L’Archangelo and the tomatoes Miracle of San Gennaro by Sabatino Abagnale.

For more information please see our online shop and good Cyber Monday to everyone!

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