Vado a Cena

Fresh Tagliatelle with Salmon, Spinach and Sour Cream

2011-04-05T20:57:00.004+01:00

Stressed after a hard day at work, I passed by a M&S food shop and saw splendid fresh free range eggs tagliatelle and good looking Scottish Salmon Fillets and clearly there was my dinner. I just needed some sour cream and to make it all healthier a bunch of spinach leaves. Once at home, the work wasn't too hard. Boiled some water while in the frying pan I let a chopped garlic clove getting brown on a bit of butter...

... that is when I added the salmon (diced) and the spinach leaves. Just few minutes after the salmon is cooked (medium heat) and it's time to pour a bit of sour cream...

Boiling water -> a spoonful of salt in it -> 200g of tagliatelle (it's a romantic dinner tonight x2) and wait a few minutes (check cooking time on the packet). Once done, add the tagliatelle to the sauce...

... and mix all together adding fresh ground black pepper

so easy and so quick. Ah, my partner devoured it enthusiastically.

Tip: if the pasta looks too dry after mixing it with the sauce, top it with some very good extra virgin olive oil

A very "foolish" cake from Tuscany

2011-03-15T21:13:00.017Z

The “torta co bischeri” is a typical cake from a small village in the Pisa’s region called Pontasserchio (roughly translatable as “Serchio Bridge”).

This cake is very special because is quite impossibile to find it out of this small area.

The word “bischero” means “foolish/silly”. The Bischeri’s family was the only family in Florence that refused to sell its own palace in the area where the Duomo of Florence had to be built. At the end, all the Bischeri properties were dispossessed and they didn’t get any money for their assets.

This recipe requires almost 2 hour to be done.

First of all make the shortcrust. There are a lot of different recipes, but the following one is my favourite because is not too fat.

250 gr of flour
1 egg
100 gr of butter
100 gr of sugar
baking powder
a pinch of salt

Knead together all the ingredients to get a smooth dough. Then put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Ingredients for the filling:

100 gr of rice
½ lt of milk
50 gr of sugar
150 gr of dark chocolate
50 gr of cocoa powder
50 gr of pine nuts
2 eggs
cinnamon
raisins
candied fruit
liqueur of your choice (in our case, we’ll use whisky).

Soak the raisins in liqueur.

Boil the milk with cinnamon powder. As soon the milk starts boiling add the rice and cook it for 25/30 min.

Strain the rice and add chocolate, cocoa powder and sugar.

Wait until the mixture is cold an then add the eggs, pine nuts, candied fruit and raisins with whisky.

Coat a backing tray with the shortcrust leaving enough pastry to fold the border and fill it with the rice mix.

Decorate the cake with pastry lattice.
Fold the pastry on the border and pinch it as shown below.

Cook it for 40 minutes at 180 C.

It's just delicious.

New hangtags and QR Codes for our products.

2011-03-09T08:19:00.004Z

Traditional products get up to date. Can an extra virgin olive oil produced on hills whose olive trees were there since the greek colonies (more than 2000 years ago) meet the newest tech and IT discoveries?
Yes.
We designed new hangtags for our products, mini cards with pictures that you can also use as bookmark.

On the back of the card we added a QR code sticker.

Zoom on it with your blackberry or iphone camera using the QR code reader and you will be automatically directed to the web product page.

It was never so easy to re-order your beloved food!

What have I found in my fridge? Another quick recipe for a delicious dinner. Ravioli with ham, tomato and cheese.

2011-03-08T20:49:00.017Z

Another long day of work. Meetings, tastings and more phone calls.
Back home, what have I got to cook?
I passed by my lovely stockist Italo Deli in Vauxall (you MUST go if you haven't yet!). As always I have got their amazing fresh ravioli pasta. Today's filling is a classic: spinach and ricotta.

Back home I have:
Onion
Garlic
EV Olive Oil
Tomatoes
Fresh Basil
Salt and Pepper
a little piece of Prosciutto Bazzone (our bespoke ham)
more leftovers: a piece of young pecorino with herbs and smaller piece of mature pecorino

Let's make a quick pasta then.
Side A: Boil water.
Side B: Frying pan + ev olive oil. Let the olive oil get warm enough, then add chopped garlic and onion.

Let them get golden and add the tomato sliced and diced ham.

Mix all and stir it for 3-4 minutes. Add salt and black pepper. Another minute or two and turn off the fire.
Once the pasta is cooked (the fresh ravioli only take 4-5 minutes to cook) add it to the pan and mix it with the sauce (turn the fire back on).

At this time add basil and cheeses.

Mix all together for 2 minutes more.

And there you go.

This was so simple and with a good glass of red DOC Macchion Del Lupo it's just a perfect dinner. Nom Nom.

Vado A Cena goes to Italy, Mamma Mia!

2011-03-04T13:57:00.013Z

Mom is always mom!
For every italian, mamma is always a safe and warm place when they come home.
Mom spoils us, cuddles us, takes care of us, and most of all, she makes our favorite food.
Vado A Cena has come back home and "Mom" has the best welcome ever!
You know you're at home when opening the door, you are greeting with the smells from a day spent cooking.
This is what Vado A Cena had for dinner yesterday:

The meal start with an appetizer, prosciutto Bazzone hand cut and a little selcetion of cheeses: parmesan and Gruyère.

A good glass of red Campordigno.

Then go straight to the main dish: beef “tagliata” covered with rocket and parmesan and a side of peas.

At the end of the meal fresh fruit and a typical tuscan sweet : Castagnaccio
Castagnaccio is made with chestnut flour, pine nut, walnut and raisins.

At the end a good “Ponce”… a good espresso with rum, a slice of lemon and cinnamon.

A quick lunch... Fresh Tortelli with spinach leaves, balsamic vinegar and pecorino

2011-03-03T14:06:00.014Z

I was tweeting more than usual today and almost forgot to have lunch.
I decided then to share the preparation of my quick meal. As always, working in food I often forget to do proper shopping and I find my self figuring out how to match what I can find in my half empty fridge.
I have got a lovely gift from my friend (she works at La Tua Pasta): a packet of fresh tortelloni filled with mushroom and cheese.
I take a clove of garlic and some fresh spinach leaves. Oh, I have got a little piece of our Pecorino, favourite cheese of our clients at the last street market.
And the pasta dish was already in my head:
Boiling water, salt.

(add salt only after the water is boiling)

Frying pan, ev olive oil, garlic and crushed chilli. When the garlic gets gold I added the spinach leaves (well I added also a few rocket salad because it was there...).

(I added a little piece of unsalted butter as well)

After a few minutes the spinach leaves are ready and I turned off the stove.
In the meantime the water was boiling... I cooked the pasta for about 3 minutes.

Drained the pasta and mixed in the frying pan (stove on again). Added our aged balsamic vinegar.

Grated our pecorino from Tuscany directly in the pan...

... and served. My lunch is ready and yes it's not too bad considering it took about 8 minutes to prepare it!

Ah, don't forge to follow us on Twitter!

Nonna Wilma and the cookies. Girandole di Carnevale

2011-03-01T09:57:00.017Z

It’s Carnival time right now in Italy.
“Carnevale di Venezia”, “Carnevale di Viareggio” and the historical “Carnevale di Ivrea” are some of the most famous of the world.

Perhaps not everybody knows that the word “Carnevale” comes from Latin “carnem levare” and it means “eating meat is not allowed”
Indeed in the Middle age was not allowed eating meat from the first day of “Quaresima” till the “Holy Thursday” before easter.
During this period Italian bakery and family are used to make traditional sweets such as cenci, frappe, chiacchiere, frittelle di riso, zeppole, castagnole, struffoli, schiacciata fiorentina.
The carnival sweets are made in different ways and with different flavours and fillings such as chocolate, custard and home made jam. They are then baked in the oven or fried with spices on the top.

Today we show you how to make “Girandole” cookies.

Chiara’s Grandma Wilma used to make these biscuits, whose name comes from their shape that reminds us of the carnival “girandola” (pinwheel).
Making Girandole is very easy and quick, they are delicious and crumbly…perfect for your afternoon tea!
Ingredients
120g sugar
150g unsalted butter
1 egg
265g flour
1 table spoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt
vanilla flavour
150 gr dark chocolate powder

Let’s start mixing the butter and sugar with a hand mixer for 10 minutes, until the mix is getting light and well whipped.

Add the whole egg, salt and mix again.

Add flour and baking powder and cream it using a large spoon.

Separate the mix into two equal parts, adding the chocolate powder to the first one and the table spoon of vanilla flavour to the other.

Hand knead each piece of dough until it is smooth and elastic.
Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in fridge for 1 hour.

Take back the two pieces of dough and roll them, first the dark one and then the white.
Lay the two sheets one upon the other.
Make sure both sheets are the same size, and remove any excess dough, then roll the two sheets together.

Wrap the roll with cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Slice the roll in 5 mm thick slices.

Lay them on a baking tray (don’t forget to put a grease proof sheet under your cookies!)
Put in the oven at the temperature of 180°C for 10 minutes.

Finally, leave them to cool and then…enjoy!

Mixtape: Music for Foodies

2011-01-26T11:46:00.006Z

Here is our first playlist of food-tunes we love! Enjoy!

Sénégal fast food - Amadou & Mariam
Oh! Those Sweet Bananas - Hackamore Brick
Hot Meat - Sugarcubes
Shake & Bake - The Pinholes
A Picnic - Cub
Cake - Race Horses
This Ain't No Picnic - Minutemen
Digsy's Dinner - Oasis
Fruit Machine - The Ting Tings
Bread And Puppets - Beatrice Antolini
Eat Every Bean and Pea On Your Plate - Daddy a Go-Go
Eat That up, It's Good for You - Two Door Cinema Club
Eat Your Heart - Micachu & The Shapes
Eating Spiders - Psapp
A Chicken with Its Head Cut Off - The Magnetic Fields
Big Kid Table - Thao
Vegetarian Restaurant - The Knife
Tables and Chairs - Andrew Bird
Mega-feast - Thee Oh Sees
All The Wine - The National
Metti Una Sera A Cena (Love Circle) - Ennio Morricone

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Recipe from Mamma Alessandra from Tuscany: Codfish served in onions and vinegar sauce

2011-01-24T17:43:00.015Z

Ingredients (for 6 people):

1 codfish (filleted, 1200g),
some DOP Sicilian olive oil Triglifo,
3 onions, 50g butter,
15-20g sugar,
100g white wine (Planeta La Segreta Bianco),
60g tarragon vinegar,
500ml water,
little sachet of spices with peppercorns, sea salt, laurel, cloves,
1 medium potato

How to prepare:
buy a cod already filleted in the shop, cut in 200g slices, salt with seasalt, put on a baking tray with baking paper.
Dripple some Triglifo olive oil on the cod fillets, let it get glassy at 150 degrees 10-15min.
Peal the onions, cut in thin slices... let butter melt in a pan, add onion slices, sprinkle with sugar, add white wine, then vinegar and water, put the sachet of spices too.
Peal the potato, slice in cubic thin slices, add to the vinegar brew - the potato starch thickens the brew slightly. let simmer for 10min, so that onions and potatoes remain firm to the bite "al dente", season to taste with salt, vinegar and sugar.
Serve onion brew in deep plates, put cod on top (skin side up). if you like you can garnish with horseraddish or chive.

Buon appetito!

A glass of our Prosecco di Valdobbiadene will be perfect for this dish!

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Vado A Cena at FINE WINE FAIR 2010

2010-11-04T16:58:00.015Z

It was great! Yes! A fantastic experience to be in a beautiful venue - the Old Town Hall in Chelsea - and share our products and wines with experts, writers and food lovers. Here I just post some pictures of the event. Thank you all for coming and show your smiles while tasting our vinegars, our wines, our ham...

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"Cuisine for all" writes Giampiero Martinotti, journalist a La Repubblica

2010-11-03T08:50:00.004Z

Not rare products or difficult recipes, but delicious, easy to prepare menus for every day are most looked for. In Paris the average of cooking school attendants is around 30 years old. Nowadays it is hard to get into cooking classes, unless you book months beforehand. Reasons why people attend cooking classes are, because they like to spend time together or try out new food and recipes, or simply because in times of crisis "savoir faire" substitutes dining out in expensive restaurants. Thus, it is all about explaining the simply cooking techniques to people. Not for nothing in Italy and UK there is a boom of cooking classes on TV, or in the USA the video recipes to download from the web are becoming very popular. Have a look at the my favourite cooking class on Italian TV right now: "La Prova Del Cuoco". The article here.

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Recipe: Risotto alla Zucca (pumpkin risotto), a suggestion of mamma Maria Luisa

2010-10-25T20:20:00.009+01:00

Pumpin risotto is a traditional dish from the North of Italy, specifically from Lombardia, region of Milan.
No doubt, this is a easy to make recipe and in the same time very tasty, especially during cold autumn evenings.
Isn't a perfect dish for a Hallowing dinner party?
The following is the special home recipe of Mamma Maria Luisa from Mantova

butter
1 onion, chopped
1 litre of vegetable or chicken stock
1 pumpkin, diced
400g of rice (Carnaroli rice would be best)
white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
parmesan cheese

Heat the stock until boiling and add the diced pumpkin. Once the pumpkin is cooked, drain it and leave it aside.
In a separate heavy-based saucepan sweat the onion in the butter until golden.
Add the rice and the white wine, mix well (otherwise the rice will stick to the pan) and cook for about 10 minutes.
Then add the pumpkin and the stock a little at a time and cook all for 15-20 minutes (the texture should be loose and creamy and the rice al dente).

You delicious risotto is almost ready. Add 50g butter, salt, black pepper and grated parmesan and stir.
Let the rice rest for 2 more minutes before service. Fantastic.

Tips:
If you want to make it even tastier, while cooking the rice, add rosemary

Wine: Planeta La Segreta Bianco will be a perfect match for your risotto!

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VADO A CENA AT SPECIALITY AND FINE FOOD FAIR, Kensington Olympia, Sept. 2010

2010-09-24T11:29:00.016+01:00

Hello Foodies and Vado A Cena followers!
Here are some pictures of the stand n. 172! Thank you so much for all the visitors and friends who came to visit us and enjoyed the tastings! When we arrived for the setting up I was personally desperate.

The room available was tiny as we knew, but the foods, banners, wood boxes and decoration stuff we brought with us looked much much voluminous... I thought - We'll never make it!

Only with the work of our great staff (Kathi and Chiara... women really know how to set up and solve space's issues) we could make it... and it was beautiful that some visitors passed by and said - Look how stylish can be Italians...
The stand was very cute indeed, presenting exactly our business concept: mamma's dinner, simple table, like in a Tuscan trattoria, a picture of Italian countryside.
We let visitors taste out best produces: the dry cured ham from Garfagnana, aged for 24 months after being salted and massaged for 45 days (great success!). The two salami from Ghivizzano: delicate Salame prosciuttato (exclusive ham mixture salame) and delicious Mondiola (snail shaped salami with bay leaves).

Two Pecorino Cheeses (sheep milk cheese) matured in cave for 60 days and wrapped in hay and straw or in aromatic herbs. Our monocultivar extra virgin olive oil from Sicily and famous balsamic vinegar from Modena, tasted with strawberries.
The hand made fine chocolate from Maestro Roberto Catinari from Tuscany and our wines.
Visitors were very interested in the history behind our products and the lifestyle we try to share.

A wonderful experience meeting foodies, as always.

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Recipe: Maccheroni alla boscaiola, a suggestion of mamma Sofia

2010-08-29T12:51:00.015+01:00

Pasta alla boscaiola is one of the most common Italian dishes. Summer says goodbye, autumn arrives. That's the time when porcini mushrooms grow in the Italian woods.
Ideally use fresh porcini, but if you cannot find them purchase cultivated mushrooms and a 20-gram packet of dried porcini (this will be about half a cup, packed; if you want, you can use more, but don't exaggerate). Steep the dried mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, then add them to the cultivated mushrooms. Strain the steeping liquid and add it to the sauce. The other option, in the absence of fresh porcini, is to use the wild mushrooms available where you live.

Ingredients for four people:

500 g maccheroni Martelli
400 g porcini mushrooms
120 g smoked Italian pancetta (or smoked bacon)
2 shallots
350 g cherry tomatoes
A bunch of parsley
Black olives
A few leaves of sage
1/2 glass Extra Virgin Olive oil Triglifo
Salt & pepper
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Clean the mushrooms, brushing the dirt away from the stems. Cut the mushrooms in thin slices.

Cut the pancetta (bacon) in small slices or cubes, as you prefer.

Mince the shallots and the herbs and cook them for a few minutes in 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the sliced pancetta and when it gets golden add the diced tomatoes and chopped black olives. Cook until the tomatoes are ready (4-5 minutes).
In the meantime, boil the water and cook the maccheroni al dente. As the pasta is cooking, add the porcini mushrooms in the frying pan and cook in gentle flame for 7-10 minutes adding parsil and seasoning with salt and black pepper.

Continue simmering the sauce over a gentle flame. Depending upon how much moisture the mushrooms contain you may need to add more liquid - a splash of white wine and a little hot water.

Drain the pasta and mix itwith the sauce; serve with grated parmesan.

Goes perfect with our DOC Merlot Campordigno

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Recipe from Mamma Giovanna: Maccheroni Radicchio, Gorgonzola and Walnuts

2010-07-31T13:26:00.007+01:00

"Radicchio is a leaf chicory (Cichorium intybus, Asteraceae), sometimes known as Italian chicory and is a perennial. It is grown as a leaf vegetable which usually has white-veined red leaves. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted" - Wiki. And we love it in salads and cooked in pasta and rice dishes as well.
Here is an easy (so quick to make it!) and fantastic recipe suggested by my friend Marco's Mamma Giovanna.

Ingredients for 2 people:

* 250 g of Maccheroni Martelli
* 1 Radicchio
* 150 g of Gorgonzola blue cheese (but Stilton is good as well!)
* 10 Walnuts
* butter
* 1 garlic clove

Steps:
1 - Boil the water to cook the Maccheroni pasta. In the meantime wash carefully the radicchio and cut into small slices.
2 - Heat a large frying pan and let golden the garlic clove on a bit of butter, then add the Radicchio, cover it with a lid and cook it for about 8-10 minutes.
4 - Once the Radicchio gets softer add the Gorgonzola (cut in cubes) and the Walnuts and pour a bit of the boiling water in the pan too. Mix all until the gorgonzola melts then stop the fire.
5 - When the pasta is ready, drain it and mix it directly in the frying pan together with the melting gorgonzola, the radicchio and the walnuts.

Your delicious pasta will impress your guests!

I would definitely enjoy a glass of our special Grüner Veltliner from Austria with this dish!

Buon appetito!

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Human Right Watch Event in London

2010-07-11T14:11:00.006+01:00

Hello Foodies! Vado A Cena is not only importing food but tries to to build and hold a sustainable business based on ethical principals and ideals. We help small producers who use traditional, non-industrial processes and we are constantly looking for new suppliers who are concerned about sustainable production. As you know, our main wine supplier Marchesi Ginori Lisci, thanks to a biomass plant, produces the finest wine with green energy. A green world is a human right.
Also, with regard to our new art and packaging initiative*, we evaluated several fund raising projects in London and thanks to our friend Volinka we had the chance to give our little support to Human Right Watch.
A dance marathon, people from all over the world in a cool backyard in central London and the silent auction.
We thank all the participants for their interest in our food box full of Italian specialties and congratulations to Mark who won the hamper!

Buon appetito!

* contact us if you are interested to find out more: info@vadoacena.com

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RECIPE: Mamma Ester, Farro Salad from Garfagnana, Tuscany

2010-06-25T11:49:00.009+01:00

Mamma Ester comes from the region of Garfagnana, in the north-west of Tuscany. Mountains, Valleys, The Marble Caves and the Tirreno Sea, makes the area a beautiful spot to visit a stunning nature and historical towns.
Food is of course an important part of the region. Our charcuterie foods come from there.
A special product from Garfagnana is Farro, a grain similar to pearl barley with a special flavour (halfway between couscous and rice), Romans used it to make bread and soups.

Here is the recipes of Mamma Ester's Farro Salad:

Ingredients for 4 people:
200 gr. Farro (soon in our stock!!)
8 cherry tomatoes, diced
1 zucchini julienne
1 carrot julienne
1 celery
15 green olives
basil
mint
extra virgin olive oil
salt and shredded black pepper

Wash the Farro well and soak it for about 3-4 hours in cold water, then drain it. Cook the farro in saucepan covered with cold water and bring to boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, until tender, and drain well. In the meantime cut julienne or dice all the vegetables and place them on a plate. Add the olives, the tomatoes, basil leaves and mint leaves and mix all.
When the Farro is cooked, wash it in cold water and drain it again.
Mix Farro with the vegetables, dress it with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.
A fresh, tasty and light salad is ready!

A glass of our delicious and fruity Bacio Rosé will pair perfectly with your salad!

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RECIPE: Zia Elisabetta pasta with asparagus and ham. Seasonal, delicate and delicious.

2010-05-30T16:01:00.006+01:00

Mr. Asparagus acutifolius belongs to the family of Liliaceae, picked in springtime, healthy food for its specific properties: diuretic and ideal for a pre-bikini diet.
In the kitchen, just wonderful for a risotto, Italian omelette, or simply cooked flavored with olive oil and vinegar etc

Today recipe is an idea of Zia Elisabetta, simple, quick and very delicious. You can use Farfalle, Penne or Maccheroni pasta or Maccheroni pasta (see our special Martelli).

Ingredients for 2 people:
250 gr. wild asparagus spears
100 gr. Tuscan ham
1 onion
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil Triglifo
sheep cheese Pecorino Toscano
250 gr maccheroni pasta

Wash the asparagus, cut and select the spears. Chop the onion and make crispy in a large pan with extra virgin olive oil Triglifo. Add slices (or cubes) of the Tuscan ham for a few minutes.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water until al dente. Add the asparagus spears to the boiling water for the last 2-3 min of the cooking time (this will give a special flavor to the pasta).

Drain the pasta and asparagus, then mix in the pan with the ham, sprinkling grated Pecorino and adding freshly grounded black pepper.

Healthy and tasty spring dish for all.

Perfect match with our red wine DOC Macchion Del Lupo

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RECIPE Mamma Antonietta's best pasta sauce: Sicilian broccoli pasta.

2010-03-24T17:01:00.008Z

Here is a simple and delicious recipe of a fantastic and rarely know pasta dish:

Main course for four people.
Get
+ 500 gr of our Maccheroni Martelli
+ 500 gr broccoli (better broccolini, now is the season!)
+ 2 anchovy fillets
+ red hot chilli pepper
+ salt
+ 1 garlic clove
+ parmesan
+ 1 small spoonsfull of pine nuts
+ 1 big spoonfull of raisins.

Boil enough water to cook the pasta in your beloved pot. Once the water starts boiling (only then!) add salt and then the broccoli (only the flower heads) and let the veg cook for about 10 minutes. Make sure not to over cook the broccoli, they must be still a bit hard. In the meantime, keep the raisins in a bowl with water to let them get softer for about 5 minutes, then dry out the water. When ready, take out the broccoli and put them in a plate. In the same water start cooking the pasta. Sauce: pour a bit of our extra virgin olive oil on a large pan and add the anchovy fillets and the garlic. The anchovies will melt in the hot oil and the garlic will get soon “blonde”. Once the garlic is toasted take it out and add as much as you like hot pepper (crushed or whole) together with the cooked broccoli. After 3 minutes add raisins and pine nuts, the sauce is done! In the meantime the pasta will be ready al dente. Mix the pasta for a few extra minutes in the pan together with the sauce. Just before serving top with sliced parmesan. You are practically a sicilian chef now.

DID YOU KNOW? Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family, and is closely related to cauliflower. Its cultivation originated in Italy. Broccolo, its Italian name, means "cabbage sprout." Because of its different components, broccoli provides a range of tastes and textures, from soft and flowery (the floret) to fibrous and crunchy (the stem and stalk). Oh yes.

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