ITALIAN FOODIES

We make this tomato sauce every Monday night as Bru plays soccer and we just want something quick and easy. There are no stir-in sauces used in this house!! I'm going to self-promote here and tell you to buy the De Cecco tinned tomatoes we have in La Cucina as they are the sweetest and nicest I've tasted here. For this sauce all you need is:

•   
• 2 tins De Cecco tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic
• Italian extra virgin olive oil ( we sell this too)
• Few basil leaves - we have small pot of basil on the windowsill in the kitchen, you get them everywhere.
• Salt
• Pack of penne - we use either Barilla or De Cecco, these are the best brands for dry pasta
• 1 tsp sugar

 - Bring a pot of water to the boil for your pasta.

 - While you are waiting pour a few big glugs of olive oil into your frying pan ensuring that the whole base is covered.

 - Put in your garlic clove and cook on a low heat until brown and then remove. You can add chilli here also if you want.

 - Leave oil to cool down and then add your tomatoes and sugar. Do not put in when the oil is hot as the pan will go on fire. I'm speaking from experience here!!

 - Leave tomatoes to simmer for 15-20 mins and then add salt to taste, and your basil leaves.

 - When your water is boiled add a GOOD bit of salt and your pasta and cook till AL DENTE. This is the way Italians cook dry pasta, it should be chewy and have a bite to it and not be really soft. We just keep tasting one until it's cooked perfectly.

 - Drain your pasta, put back in the pot and add 3/4 of sauce.

 - Serve with remaining sauce on top, some freshly grated parmesan and a couple of basil leaves.

BUON APPETITO!!!

 Where do I start??? I think I actually love every Italian food I've ever tasted, the only one I didn't get too excited about was polenta but it could have been the way it was cooked!!

OUR FAVOURITES

• COLD MEATS - My  favourite has to be parma ham!! I love it as a starter with melon, only in Italy though because the melon is so sweet and much nicer than here(of course!!) Another cold meat which is really popular is mortadella, not really heard of here. It's lovely on a cheese and tomato pizza, you just put it on after the pizza is cooked. Superquinn do a really good brand of Italian cold meats called Rovagnati, a little expensive but worth it.

• CHEESE - Buffalo mozzarella for sandwiches and caprese!! Parmesan for pasta or just to eat on it's own with breadsticks or olives. In Atina in Bru's aunt's restaurant they have these little ricotta cheese parcels made locally and they are so delicious with the local bread. We stuff our faces everytime they have this cheese, actually we stuff our faces everytime we go there anyway!! 

• PASTA - One of our favourites is just the traditional dish of penne with a good home-made tomato sauce and loads of parmesan on top. We have this every Monday night because it's so quick and easy to make, I'll post the recipe. Our number one has to be linguine with clams, we went to the Amalfi Coast 2 years ago, they have so much fresh fish in this area and this pasta dish was on nearly every menu,mmmmmm!! It's lovely with courgettes and chilli added too!!!

• PIZZA - When it comes to pizza less is definately more!!! In Ireland people tend to pile as much as possible on their pizza. In Italy the focus is on the base, good quality tomato sauce and good mozzarella. Our favourite is Margherita of course with buffalo mozzarella. Sometimes we will put mortadella or parma ham on top just for a change. This is going to sound strange but coleslaw is lovely on pizza (our home-made coleslaw of course). Bru's dad actually started us on this, the most unlikely person as he is 100% traditional Italian but every now and then he throws caution to the wind. He also makes great fish and chips.!! Sorry Alfredo your secret is out!!

• MEAT - The old reliable definately wins out here "filetto" or fillet steak. It has to be cooked RARE, the more blood the better. I know most people here eat it well done but we love it rare, rare and more rare. We normally just eat it grilled and then add a little lemon juice, black pepper and sea salt. We normally have baby potaoes roasted with garlic and rosemary and maybe some braised spinach or rocket salad. YUMMY!!

• FISH - To be honest we love all fish except salmon but if we had to pick a favourite it would probably be swordfish( i posted a recipe previously) There is nothing nicer than fresh prawns in their shells, a little messy but so tasty. We also like seabass done in the oven with fennel.

• DESSERT - Gelato of course when on holidays!! Italian ice-cream is so nice, even though we've noticed all of these really modern Gelaterias opening up in Italy but the ice-cream isn't great. You're better off going to the smaller, older,  family -run places because they probably make their own. We went to a really famous one in Sorrento (can't remember the name) but anyone who has been to Sorrento has been to this place. It's on the main street. In Ireland we love fresh strawberries when in season served with vanilla mascarpone.

• MISC - Espresso and Limoncello after dinner, Green olives, italian fruit, proseco, bragetto, cornetti and cappucino for breakfast

CIAO TUTTI!!

WE DECIDED TO START THIS BLOG FOR ALL YOU ITALIAN FOODIES OUT THERE. WE'VE NOTICED A HUGE CHANGE IN TASTES AND KNOWLEDGE SINCE OPENING 4 YEARS AGO IN RELATION TO ITALIAN FOOD. SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF FLIGHTS BY RYANAIR FROM SHANNON TO ROME LAST YEAR MORE AND MORE LIMERICK PEOPLE ARE TRAVELLING TO ITALY. I GET ASKED A LOT WHEN I'M AT WORK WHERE TO STAY IN ROME,WHAT PARTS OF ITALY TO SEE, WHERE TO EAT ETC,  SO WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR PEOPLE TO GIVE THEIR VIEWS AS TO WHERE TO STAY, EAT AND DRINK. WE GO THERE QUITE A LOT OURSELVES AND HAVE COUSINS AND FRIENDS BASED IN ROME WHO ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO GIVE WORDS OF ADVICE ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO THE SOCIAL SCENE.

ITALIAN FOOD IS OBVIOUSLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR BLOG AND WE'D LIKE EVERYONE TO SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE ITALIAN RECIPES AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO COOKING PASTA, PIZZA, ANYTHING ITALIAN BASICALLY. WE WILL HELP IN ANYWAY WE CAN! WE'RE NOT TRAINED CHEFS BUT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON - "THE ITALIAN MAMMA" AND BELIEVE ME THAT IS BOOT CAMP AND IF WE DON'T KNOW,  WE'LL JUST ASK HER.

THE ITALIAN PAPA' IS FROM A LITTLE VILLAGE BETWEEN ROME AND NAPLES, ITS A TINY LITTLE VILLAGE CALLED ATINA SETTLED IN THE MOUNTAINS. PAULO TULLIO ACTUALLY COMES FROM A VILLAGE ABOUT 10 MINS AWAY. WE GO THERE EVERY SUMMER MAINLY IN AUGUST AS THERE IS A HUGE FESTIVAL IN ITALY ON THE 15th AND THE WHOLE COUNTRY LITERALLY SHUTS DOWN FOR THE CELEBRATIONS. AS USUAL THE CELEBRATION NORMALLY CENTRES AROUND FOOD, WE'RE LUCKY AS THE FAMILY HAVE A RESTAURANT THERE SO WE USUALLY EAT THERE FOR OUR WHOLE HOLIDAY. THE RESTAURANTS IN THIS AREA ARE SO DIFFERENT TO HERE MOST OF THEM DON'T EVEN HAVE A MENU, MUSIC, CANDLES BUT THE ATMOSPHERE IS REALLY GOOD BECAUSE THEY ARE FULL WITH FAMILIES AND YOU KNOW HOW LOUD ITALIANS ARE SO THEY PROVIDE THE ATMOSPHERE THEMSELVES. 

THE ITALIAN MAMMA IS FROM THE NORTH, GENOVA AND WE NORMALLY VISIT THERE AT SOME STAGE DURING OUR HOLIDAYS. WE GO TO A LITTLE BEACH TOWN CALLED DEVA MARINA WHERE THE SEA IS SO AMAZING, ONE OF THE COUSINS IS A LIFEGUARD THERE SO WE GET WELL LOOKED AFTER WITH OUR FREE SUNBEDS AND UMBRELLAS!!!

ANYWAY THATS A LITTLE SNIPPET INTO OUR ITALIAN CONNECTIONS. GET POSTING!!!!