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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Let's start from here: Food in the city Warehouse

It's missing just one month to Christmas and nowhere like in London everyone is talking about the festivities: from recipes, to holidays, from homemade decorations to the classic shopping for presents.

Lots are the little Christmas markets popping up every weekend  in the city and the shops are starting to get busy between clients, boxes and wrapping papers.

Here I have a little suggestion for you: what about food presents this year? Are really few the people who won't enjoy something like this! Have you never thought about something special like  an hamper or a selection of high quality products, not easy to find in the normal shops or supermarket?

I'm sure I have in mind a place that really can make your Christmas shopping very easy: Food in the city, a very special warehouse in the beautiful St. John's Wood, where you will be able to find lots of products and of course our Italian pasta from Gragnano.

On the 27th and 28th of November there will be the warehouse Sale, where you will be able to buy all the products with a big discount.

Are you curious to try our pasta?  Do you have some great food or pasta lover in your family? Are you planning to invite people and cook for them on Christmas? Or you just fancy high quality products and to try new specialties and delicatessen from different countries? Whatever is your need, I'm sure that passing by, you will love this place.

And if you are not near the city, just go online and enjoy the sales comfortably seated on your sofa! And don't forget to check all the different shapes of pasta available from Pastificio dei Campi.

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Some guidelines to choose between the best italian wines

I admit it: I'm italian but I'm not a real expert about wine, especially if not produced in Italy. I love Sangiovese for example, but I could not really tell you which brand sell the best wine, or entertain you with a little insight about the taste and flavors in a wine.

So I was really happy today when I discovered Tom Hylands's blog and his article about "Duemilavini". I knew about the Gambero Rosso Italian Wine Guide called "I vini d'Italia 2011", but I didn't know about this other guide for italian wines made instead by the Italian Sommelier Association.

This is something I wanted to share with you, readers of this blog, because I'm sure you will find in this two books a big help to learn and understand more about italian wines and their characteristics. Both of them are based on a very simple system: glasses or grape bunches. More glasses or grapes bunches they give and better is the wine.

Gambero Rosso's guide arrived this year at the 24th edition and it reviews around 20,000 wines and more than 2,300 different companies. The guide reports the price of the wine and a quality judgment based on glasses: 3 is the excellence. This year they were 402.

Duemilavini instead, at its 11th edition, tastes as well more than 20,000 wine, but gives the 5 grape bunches (the maximum score) just at 298 wines and, simple but detailed, it has also a part dedicated to the food and wine pairing.

Did you always wanted to learn more about italian wines, or you simply wanted to make your dinner just perfect matching the right wine with the dish you have prepared? Now you don't have any more excuses: here is your solution for an excellent italian wine to pair with your excellent pasta dish.

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To remind you about "Children in need" this evening on BBC

Every year in November the BBC set aside one evening of programming on its flagship television channel, BBC One, to show events aimed at raising money exclusively destined for charities working with children in the UK.

In 2009, the charity raised over £20 million! The mascot is a yellow teddy bear with a bandage over one eye, called 'Pudsey'. Introduced in 1985 it has become a regular feature and a famous character.

The attention for this event it's high in all England and everyone try to raise money or spread the news around this project in every way. Very typical is the bake sale and especially the cup cake sale, with some created from famous chefs just for this event.

So, to remind you all this important event, I decided to make a list of the favorite pasta dishes for children, the ones they love the most and finish in no time.

Children normally like little shape of pasta because easier to eat and simple flavors. A part from the classic and simple tomato sauce pasta (made with passata, without any tomatoes chunk, or following this recipe), you can try to add some tuna too or you can cook some cheesy pasta. With  some butter and a good quantity of Parmesan, or even with another cheese they like, this pasta is really appreciated. Have you ever tried pasta wit ham, pies and cream? This is always a success and it puts together, protein, carbs and the vegetable too. Easy and quick to prepare, it's a must to remember.

Finally for the most creative and even fussy children, a good idea is to give them some cooked pasta (maybe with some butter), some cooked vegetables and other ingredients they can easily add to their plate. In this way they can decide what to eat, how much, and have the satisfaction to have cook this by themselves.

What is your secret recipe to make your children happy? Share this with us and I'm sure you will  help not just the little ones. And don't forget tonight the show on the BBC.

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Good ingredients and good chefs can make you feel in Italy

In the majority of the english food blogs you will find reviews of restaurants, pubs and new places to eat: in a country with a mix of so many different cuisines, you can get lost and finish to eat always in the same places or the same kind of food.

Instead this is the best country to discover other food traditions, taste, flavors and in few word enter in real contact with other cultures.

Between all these posts I have just seen one published this week, that is absolutely perfect for you, reader of this blog and pasta lovers: 10 best pasta dishes by the Epicurean blog.

This is a very intriguing guide to the best pasta cuisine experiences he ever had in London and some of the restaurants in the list are really famous and great.

As he said the fact that these dishes were great is not just for the chef who made them, but also for the good products, chosen for the recipes: from the pasta (and he is the first one to quote Pastificio dei Campi between his favorites), to the tomatoes, the Parmesan, the fish or meat, the vegetables, the real italian products.

How can you resist to this Paccheri with burrata from the Tinello Restaurant or the Vongole spaghetti from Francesco Mazzei a L'Anima? Truly italian stuff!

The only thing to let me a bit confuse was the Spaghetti with meatballs that for how much they can be good (and I absolutely believe in that) are not really italian. We don't have that dish there, but maybe can be the case to go and try them.

However thank you very much Epicurean for the quote and for this list because is always hard to spot very good and traditional italian restaurants, when you have so many fake ones.

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Another great english tradition... ready to be spiced up by some italian food

I was reading today about this nice english annual celebration, the Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night and all the events organized for the 5th of November, anniversary of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605.

As many of you know, the use of the term "Guy Fawkes Night" originates from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed conspiracy by a group of provincial English Catholics to assassinate the Protestant King James I of England and replace him with a Catholic head of state.

 The festivities involve firework displays and the burning of bonfires, upon which an effigy (traditionally that of Fawkes) is ritually burnt.

In Italy we don't have so many occasions for fireworks. We normally use them celebrating the 15th of August, a religious festivity, now also seen as a mid summer party occasion. Then of course there is New Year's Eve but it's not really different from what everyone does in UK.

Looking at some food website in these days, i couldn't  ignore all the recipes and menu suggestions for tomorrow: I learned about the Parkin, or the Toffee Apples, but i was a bit disappointed by the main courses... soup or chilli con carne ?!

I understand the spicy factor of the chili, but what about the soup? So at this point i would cook some Penne all'Arrabbiata, with just  tomato sauce, garlic, chili and parsley: very easy and quick to prepare also for a big number of people ... and yes, spicy enough to enjoy the Bonfire Night.

So what is your plan for tomorrow night? Are you going to watch the fireworks somewhere or you will be so lucky to be able to see them from your own flat? And are you going to have chili con carne or pasta?

Anyway i wish you to enjoy the party!

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Food excellence in Show in Turin

It started yesterday in Turin the International Salone del Gusto 2010 and Pastificio dei Campi is there!

This is the eighth edition of this biennial event and  one of the most famous international market fair, showcasing high quality food products, accompanied by a rich and varied program of educational and entertaining activities.

Particularly interesting is this year the layout of the exhibition space which evokes the theme of the event – “Food + =  Places” – on a structural level: stands will be organised by territory. Bringing all producers of a region together conveys a sense of place that also recalls the myriad of ways in which the people of a region – food producers and others – are interconnected, creating, in the words of President of Slow Food Carlo Petrini, the culture of a place.

Pasta di Gragnano PGI, from Pastificio dei Campi, in fact is at the Pavilion 3, stand T013, in the area Market. Walking through the Pavilions 2 and 3 you there are the Italian products, divided by their place of origin, while in the Pavilion 1 there are all the products from abroad. Pastificio dei Campi is also present in the stand of the Pasta from Gragnano’s Cooperative.

The Salone, for the last 14 years has been a  special occasion for a direct interaction between producers and consumers, with an  emphasis on education, food quality and  personal involvement… this will be repeated again in this edition and all in 5 days. Impossible to miss it!

The event will be held until the 25th of October in the Lingotto Fiere exhibition center in Turin, concurrently with the Terra Madre global meeting of food communities.

Anyone in Turin in these days? Come to see us in our stand, get the brand new production of Pasta dei Campi and discover our history and traditions. And if you can't really be there with us, Stay tuned on this blog because I will soon post some pictures from the event.

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