The spaghetti which will catch your man's stomach

pasta alla puttanesca

Tonight I present you a pasta which has a mysterious legend around, connected with the ancient profession of courtesans.

It is a tasty first plate, typical from Campania (south Italy) and Lazio (middle Italy) and it is called pasta alla puttanesca.

Now lets clarify how courtesans come to the picture? Legend says that there was a bordel which had a business oriented owner who wanted to invite the customers in every possible way. One of his trick was a special pasta, his secret recipe which I am sharing with you tonight. Therefore the name (the root of puttanesca is "puttana" which means whore) of this plate and I can assure you: if you try it once, you will always return to this taste - like those customers for the bordel (though obviously there were other "tricks" happening in that place, right?)

It is a tomato base sauce, spiced up with garlic, caper, and black olive pieces. Anchovy gives a characteristic taste to the ragu and parsley brings the right harmony together. We prefer using spaghetti but it is up to you which pasta is your choice.

Wishing you "pleasant" tastes, ciao a tutti & buon appetito!
Marco

Trofie tricolore al pesto verde

trofie tricolore

Ciao a tutti - as I asked you a question earlier today, regarding what is trofie? it is fair if I also provide you the answer.
Trofie is a typical pasta, from north-western part of Italy, the region is called Liguria, you can also find here more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liguria.

I was there some time ago and bought this beautiful tricolor trofie which is not industrial but was made by a small local producer - mmmm...you can guess the taste!
I show you now a typical usage of this pasta, which is the green pesto (pesto verde). I am sure many of you already tried the pesto, but did you know that also red pesto (pesto rosso) exist? That one is typical in southern Italy, particularly in Sicily, where they add tomatoes and almonds (instead of pine tree seads) and less basil.

trofie tricolore al pesto verde

When the pasta is ready (we prefer to cook it "al dente" which means you do not overcook it, but only until the pasta is medium hard) you can mix it with the pesto (homemade is the best and not so difficult by ingredients but the quantity makes the difference, as it can change the whole taste) and you add some ground parmesan cheese and pine tree seeds on the top.

Pesto is quite popular in Liguria, and they put it not only on pasta but as well on little cooked potato pieces or on french beans.

Hope you enjoy - ciao a tutti & buon appetito!
Marco

Pasta alla bolognese



pasta alla bolognese

 Since pasta is one of the most typical Italian plate (for sure 9 out of 10 people will immediately say "pasta" if you ask them about Italy - and maybe some will mention Berlusconi :) ) what else could be the perfect dinner for meat lovers, if not pasta alla bolognese.

Most of you probably tried it with spaghetti or lasagne but I assure you, every type of pasta could be deliscious with the right ragu.

Speaking of ragu, did you know that Bolognese sauce originates back in the 5th century?

Let me invite you to continue this old tradition of this marvellous sauce, take a bite and enjoy how parmesan melts together with the little meat pieces on the pasta!

Ciao a tutti & buon appetito!
Marco

Pasta all'arrabbiata

pasta all' arrabbiata

As the dinner is knocking on the door (and in our stomach) let me present you a very simple plate with fresh coctail tomatoes and hot peperoncino (our hot chilli which is really spicy so you need to be careful how much you add) called pasta all'arrabbiata.

Since this pasta is spicy, you will become thirsty soon so I suggest you to take immediately a bottle of good wine - my personal favourite is red, from the region of Piemonte, north-west Italy.

Pasta is essential for Italians - like water for the body, so don't forget to eat at least one portion per day, not important which type - I will present you later more variations.

Ciao a tutti & buon appetito!

Marco