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

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

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

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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