The Dolce Vita Diaries

Springtime chocolate mousse with mandarin olive oil

jason.gibb — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:08:52 +0000

Chocolate and mandarin is a magical flavour combination – and following the rave reviews for our mandarin olive oil chocolates, we’ve been inspired to experiment further with olive oil for desert. We think this one is a gem; the oil makes the mousse extra smooth and silky, and the orange flavour shines through like a nativity star. You can also make this with plain extra virgin olive oil of course – or with any other flavours you fancy, even chilli oil for a South American twist.

Ingredients for six to eight mousses (mice?)

Dark chocolate (like 85% cocoa) – 200g

Eggs – 3

Caster sugar – 100g

Olive oil stone ground with mandarins – 100g

Heavy cream/whipping cream – 200ml

Ingredients for six to eight mousses (mice?)Dark chocolate (like 85% cocoa) – 200gEggs – 3Caster sugar – 100gOlive oil stone ground with mandarins – 100gHeavy cream/whipping cream – 200ml

Get ready your three clean mixing bowls and a metal or glass bowl to melt the Chocolate. Use your biggest bowl for the egg yolks as you’ll add all everything into this at the end.Slowly melt the broken up chocolate in a bain-marie. Separate the egg whites and yolks into separate spotlessly clean bowls. Beat the yolks and half of the sugar until the mix turns pale and thick. Then beat the egg whites and the rest of the sugar until the mixture just stiffens.

By now the chocolate should be melted, so mix in the mandarin olive oil and put aside to let it cool. Now, in another bowl, whip the whipping/heavy cream until it’s stiff – it should be ‘sticky’ and not ‘cloggy’.

Take the bowl with the chocolate/olive oil mix and carefully fold in the contents of the other bowls using a metal spoon: start with the creamy egg yolks, then the stiff egg whites (you want to keep the bubbles intact, so use a figure of eight movement to mix) and lastly the whipped cream. Carefully spoon the mixture into some nice serving bowls or glasses, cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

Sausages with Castelluccio lentils

jason.gibb — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:30:09 +0000

This time of year reminds me of heading up into the Sibillini Mountains in Umbria to the Castelluccio Plain. It’s an old dried out lake bed at the top of the mountains, set amidst craggy outcrops but completely flat. En route, there’s a little visual ‘amuse bouche’ (‘amuse oeil’?) which is a forest of trees grown on the side of the mountain in the characteristic boot shape of Italy, including little tree outcrops playing the part of the islands. Castellucio is famous for its annual colour festival – its unique microclimate means that all sorts of wonderful flowers thrive up there and around the end of May they all burst into the most stunning display – a botanic Northern lights. It is particularly remarkable given the stark washed out beiges of the surrounding mountains.

This same microclimate is also perfectly suited to growing the lentils for which this valley has become world famous (at least amongst the world’s lentil cognoscenti, who are wise and legion).

The Castelluccio lentil is brown and very small and has a wonderful, nutty, earthy flavour. When you’ve seen the rainbow parade that is its heritage, the hidden subtleties of flavour in this unprepossessing legume all make sense. The lentils don’t need presoaking; instead they’ll gulp down the perfumes of herbs and spices, or aromatics such as garlic or celery leaves, to create dishes of great comfort and effortless depth.

Ingredients for 4

Pancetta or unsmoked bacon – 70g chopped

Onion – one small, chopped

Garlic – 2 crushed cloves

Celery – 2 stalks finely diced

Castelluccio lentils – 350g (ask at your local Italian deli)

Salt and pepper

Pork sausage – one per person of the best Italian porkers you can find

Extra virgin olive oil – for drizzling

Fry the pancetta until the fat melts, then add the onion, garlic and celery, and fry until soft and slightly coloured. Add the lentils, cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes, or until tender, adding water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper and let the lentils gently simmer. In the meantime fry the sausages. Once the lentils are ready, serve into a bowl, add the sausages on top and drizzle over some fruity olive oil.

Premier Food Blogger: Paula Jones

dolcevitadiaries — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:19:14 +0000

Paula Jones, a blogger on Italian food being featured in our series on Nudo’s international foodie friends, is one of our favourite discoveries of the past few months. Not only is she a much-loved blogger at Bellalimento.com, but she is also quite the foodiepreneur (yes, food entrepreneur) turning her passion into a profitable online media business and recently launching a second blog at PaulaDoesPasta.com. So we asked her to share a bit about her background and her food philosophy with us. Here’s what Paula had to say:

I was born in Georgia, but had the honor of being raised around the States & Europe. One of my many homes was in Italy. Where I fell in love. Yes deeply, madly, passionately, head over heels in love with Italy from the moment my plane landed! I loved and continue to LOVE everything about Italy! It’s culture, its people, its architecture, and especially its food.

I am not a professional chef. I am just a cook. Someone who is passionate about food, especially Italian food. My recipes are all authentic and come from the many years that I lived in Italy & from my trips back to visit.

Bell’alimento is Italian for ‘beautiful food’. My food philosophy is simply “beautiful food doesn’t have to be complicated”. Italian food is about simple, quality ingredients that are combined with love and are meant to be shared with family & friends! Punto! (period) I share my passion for Italian food and my recipes on my foodblog at www.bellalimento.com

Read her guest post recipe for DolceVitaDiaries.co.uk by clicking here.

Guest Post: Paula’s Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino

dolcevitadiaries — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:22:43 +0000

This might possibly be one of the quickest & most simplest dishes you will ever make. It has only 4 ingredients but those four ingredients come together to make an incredible display of fireworks in your mouth! It’s an explosion of flavors that you won’t soon forget. The first time I ever had Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino was at a little place in Montereale Italy called the Spaghetti House! They had EVERY kind of spaghetti you could have ever wanted & then some! You would NOT leave hungry. Mamma & her boys made sure of that. They even had mezzo plates so you could indulge yourself with two types of spaghetti! Boy I miss that place! I don’t think I ever got through all of the types of Spaghetti they had, I’d get hung up on a few favorites, but mannaggia they were just so good I couldn’t help myself.

Spaghetti Aglio Olio e Peperoncino is simply Spaghetti with garlic, oil & chili pepper. I know you might have thought peperoncino sounds like pepperoni but IT’S NOT, it is indeed a spicy hot red chili pepper!

What you’ll need:
1 lb box of Spaghetti
1 small red chili pepper – seeded & minced
4 med-large cloves of fresh garlic – minced
6 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt

What to do:
Into a large pasta pan, add enough water to boil pasta. Season generously with salt. When boiling add your spaghetti & cook until al dente. WHILE the spaghetti is cooking, into a saute pan (large enough to accommodate the pasta once it has cooked) add your olive oil, garlic & pepper. Cook over low-med heat until garlic starts to turn golden (do not allow to burn) When pasta is ready, drain WELL & transfer pasta into pan with oil. Toss together and allow to heat through for approx 1-2 mins. Serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Read more about Paula Jones and her great recipes at Bell’Alimento.

Gathering the oil for the Spring packages

cathy.rogers — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:30:01 +0000

At this time of year, when we are getting the olive oil packages ready to send out to our adopters, I’m always reminded of our very first spring package send out. We didn’t have printed tins then, we had to hand-stick adhesive labels to cover each tin. We were due to hitch a lift in a friend’s van to bring the oil back to the UK to post out and so we had a very strict deadline – but three-quarters of the way into the stickers, we realised that the printer hadn’t sent enough. Jason heroically managed to get 500 more printed in record time by promising our second born to the local printer, but Houston, there was a problem….

The following is an extract from our book ‘The Dolce Vita Diaries’

‘But when Jason tried the first sticker it didn’t quite fit. Not quite fitting is a bad thing as it means the edge either creeps up over the rim of the tin or, worse, that it doesn’t quite cover all the metal the other end. All the stickers seemed to be just a tiny bit too big. If you were lucky and happened to find the middle way, you could get an acceptable fit, but it was mere chance really. At 10.30pm on the eve of our van departure, though, I was prepared to go with it. “We’ll send the ugly ones to people with double-barrelled surnames,” I said, only half joking.

“I can’t bear it” said Jason. And he went into the office to get what I knew was going to be the guillotine. “If I cut down each one and you stick, we’ll be able to get them just right and I think we can still do them in time.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” I said. Cutting them would mean a painstaking shaving off of maybe three millimetres on each side of the sticker at slightly tapering angles.

I knew that protest was useless.

And so we spent the whole night, well until 4am, deliriously slicing and sticking the last 500 stickers on to the tins and leaving them in neat piles to be packed up the next day. When we closed our eyes, we had repeating green olives etched on the inside of our eyelids.”

Enjoy your spring packages!

“The Dolce Vita Diaries: Stories and recipes from an Italian olive grove” is now available from Amazon.co.uk. The paperback version can be pre-ordered for April 2010.

Balsamic Vinegar Insights

jason.gibb — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:10:10 +0000

I’ve got an old school mate who writes for a foodie magazine; his main job is ghost writing recipes for celeb chefs (yes, what a shocker). In midsummer, you’ll find him elbow deep in unseasonal mincemeat, turkey stuffing and cranberry sauce as he spends months testing out Christmas dinner recipes. He has to do it in summer because these mags are ‘put to bed’ as they say, months before the publishing dates.

Anyway, I mention this because last week I went one better and was thinking ‘Chrimbo’ even before my old buddy. Why? Well we’ve got a wicked range of gift sets planned for this festive season and I’m seeking out the best artisans, growers and bakers to work with. Last week I was off talking to balsamic vinegar producer Bruno and his colleague Franco. They produce a beautiful balsamic which they age for up to 50 years! That’s what I call taking the long view. Fresh and inspired from the visit, I thought I’d give you some insights about the different types of balsamic vinegar instead of my usual recipe.

Four Fast Balsamic Vinegar Facts:

#1 Like in wines the names of balsamics are strictly controlled and will tell you a load about it’s quality.

#2 ‘Traditional balsamic vinegar’ or Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale is the pukka stuff. It’s the juice from grapes (called ‘must’) boiled down till it’s thick and sweet and then aged for at least 12 years in a specific mix of wooden casks. It’s pricey and flavoursome so use sparingly.

#3 ‘Balsamic Vinegar of Modena’ was invented in the latter half of last century to supply the more money conscious amongst us. The producer can use red wine vinegar mixed with colouring and sweeteners to make this. Check the ingredients and use for dressing and marinades.

#4 ‘Balsamic condiment’ or Condimento Balsamico is a mix of the two vinegars above and so is somewhere in between in quality. Not too pricey, not too cheap. And that’s the one I’d go for.

Bugie di Carnevale

jason.gibb — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:19:54 +0000

Carnevale is starting this week in Venice. I’ve never been but the images of extravagantly costumed revellers always brighten up the national news. Of course no festival in Italy is worth its salt without a traditional local platter or two to enjoy whilst partying. The Venice carnival’s snacks of choice are galani which are crispy fried dough shapes doused in icing sugar. At their best they are light and melt divinely in your mouth, but if you get the frying temperature wrong they’re more like a sickly sweet mouthful of grease. This top-drawer recipe comes from Paola, my friend Marco’s mum, who calls them by the Genoan name bugie which means ‘lies’ in Italian. Anyway our children go crazy for them and that’s no lie!

Ingredients for a big plateful

Eggs – 4

Flour – 400g/14oz plus some for dusting

Butter – 50g/1.8oz melted

Caster sugar – 4 tablespoons

Grappa – 1 espresso cup

Lemon zest - from 1 lemon

Dry yeast – 1 sachet (16g). Lievito Pane degli Angeli is ideal.

Sugar – a pinch

Bicarbonate of soda – a pinch

Sunflower oil – enough for frying

First separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks and in a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients (except for the oil) to the bowl and mix well. Beat the egg whites till they’re stiff and fold them into the mixture. Now place the resulting dough on a floury surface and knead together. Leave it to rest for about half an hour. After your cup of tea, take the dough and cut small slices of about half an inch thick. Roll this through a pasta machine – it’s best to get it down to the 2nd smallest option. Now cut the flat dough into slices and then fry til golden brown. When placing the frittelle in the oil make sure to drunk them completely so that they puff up. Then just cover them in icing sugar and you’re done.

All Wrapped Up

cathy.rogers — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:00:43 +0000

Italians are known for their exquisite cultural tastes. Well-cut dresses, beautiful interior decor, tastefully cooked and presented food. And rightly so. But all this goes to pot on Valentine’s day. Suddenly crushed red velvet, ultra-cheesy greetings cards and gaudy golden-bowed teddy bears clinging to over-sized hearts are suddenly de rigeur. Why? Well my theory is this. Italians are always weak for a bit of packaging – you can get away with a not brilliant present if it is suitably adorned, and even the most modest of gifts will always be froofed and preened into bags and boxes and ribbons and bows. And that’s when you have a gift. On Valentine’s day, isn’t it meant all to be about love? And how on earth do you package that? The answer is you package the package – there is nothing left but the package, so you up the ante on the symbol: condense it down to the wrapping up, the making an effort, the taking time and a sprinkling of showmanship.

The bigger the bow the greater the proof that it really is the thought that counts.

Snacking all’Italiana

jason.gibb — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:33 +0000

If you’re lucky enough to be in Rome and fancy hanging out with a young crowd, you could do a lot worse than head to Cafe Del Teatro in Testaccio. Order up an aperitivo – something colourful like Campari – and sit in wonder as a huge plate of canapés arrives with your prosecco. They’re not really canapés of course since those are French; the Italian equivalent are called ’stuzzichini’ or literally ‘little prodders’ (of the appetite). For anyone with a normal human appetite they do a lot more than prod. Don’t book a dinner reservation for afterwards.

Here are a couple of stuzzichini I’ve come up with which are guaranteed to prod your party guests into demanding the recipe from you.

Olive tapenade wheel

Ingredients

Puff pastry – 250g

Black olive tapenade – 75g

Egg – beaten for brushing

Flour for dusting

On a floury surface roll out your pastry into a rectangle till it’s 2-3mm thick and roughly 30cm by 20 wide. Spoon out the tapenade evenly over the pastry leaving the top edge clear. Now roll up the pastry like a jam roll and use some egg on the clear upper edge to seal it. With dainty fingers carefully cut the roll into 1cm wide pieces and place in a baking tray lined with bake-o-glide. Cook at 220^oC for about 14 minutes.

Sun-dried tomato and parmesan stuzzichino

Ingredients

Puff pastry – 250g

Parmesan – 75g cut into strips

Sun-dried cherry tomatoes- 50g

Flour – for dusting

Egg – one beaten

Preheat the oven to 220^oC. Roll out the pastry on a floury surface till it’s about 3mm thick. Cut it into 6cm squares. Fold a square in half to make a triangle. Then from the folded edge make a cut along each side towards the tip, but leave the apex attached. Unfold the square and place a piece of parmesan cheese lengthways from the uncut corner to the uncut corner. Fold the cut edges over each other, seal with a dab of egg, and place a sun dried cherry tomato on the top. Repeat until you’ve finished the pastry or just had enough. Place them all on a baking tray lined with bake-o-glide or something similar. Cook for 10 minutes and serve immediately.

Guest Post: Diana’s Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Nudo olive oil

dolcevitadiaries — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:10:12 +0000

Diana Bauman from A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa shares this delicious recipe with Nudo olive oil from her blog with us this week. We think you’ll never look at those green old sprouts the same again.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Brussel Sprouts, cleaned and halved

8 slices Pancetta

4 cloves garlic

Nudo Olive Oil

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 slice of bread

Method:

1. In a large ziplock baggie, toss the brussel sprouts, 3 pressed garlic cloves and 2 tbls Nudo Olive Oil.

2. Empty the contents into a ovenproof dish and roast at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

3. While the brussel sprouts are roasting, in a pan heat 1/4 cup nudo olive oil. When the olive oil is heated through, saute a slice of bread until browned on both sides. Set aside.

4. When the brussel sprouts have finished roasting… In the same pan that you sauteed the bread, add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Do not let them get fully tender. Add the pancetta and heat through for an additional minute.

5. Add the brussel sprouts and heat through for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

6. In a food processor, blend the bread and 1 – 2 cloves of garlic.

7. Sprinkle on top of the brussel sprouts mixture and finish by a last drizzle of Nudo Olive Oil!

You can read more about Diana’s food philosophy in our previous post. Thank you for sharing Diana.