For all of the seafood lovers out there, chef Matteo has created a savory, citrus marinade for shrimp and squid using our Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani herb mix , Sea Salt with Blood Orange Zest and delicate Ligurian extra virgin olive oil, which is guaranteed to really get your mouths watering.

If chicken and turkey are more your cup of tea, try rubbing the meat with olive oil and Sapori Italiani herb mix and allowing it to marinate for at least 10 minutes in the fridge. The added herbs really work nicely on the grill, giving the meat an extra, unexpected kick.

And if you are planning to invite any Italians to your summertime festivities, consider serving grilled pork chops – a classic Italian summer dish that will make your guests feel at home. The garlic marinade described by chef Matteo can certainly stand up to the heat of the grill.

And our team of trusty cooks has even found a way to incorporate one of our favorite ingredients – Balsamic Vinegar Must – in a savory, yet sweet, marinade to be used on lamb. The acidity of the vinegar brings out the flavor of the meat and will be sure to be a crowd pleaser.

We hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as we do. Try them out at your next BBQ and let us know what you think.

Have a good summer and get cooking!

INGREDIENTS
GRILLED FISH, SERVES 4
2 lb shrimp
2 lb squid
Marinade for Shrimp and Squid
1 lb breadcrumbs
⅜ oz Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani mix
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 ½ oz Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure DOP Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil
Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Blood Orange Zest to taste

GRILLED MEAT, SERVES 4
1 lb chicken breasts
1 lb turkey
2 lb pork chops
8 lamb chops
Marinade for Chicken and Turkey
¾ oz Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani mix
3 oz Academia Barilla Monti Iblei DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Marinade for Pork Chops
3 oz Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs thyme
Marinade for Lamb Chops
1 ¾ oz Academia Barilla Monti Iblei DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 ½ oz Academia Barilla Balsamic Must of Modena - aged 8 years

PREPARATION
1 hour preparation

GRILLED FISH, SERVES 4
Marinade and Cooking Instructions for Shrimp and Squid
Mix all of the ingredients needed for breading the shrimp and squid together in a large bowl: breadcrumbs, Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani herb mix, chopped garlic, Sea Salt with Blood Orange Zest and Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure DOP Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Once the shrimp are clean, skewer and bread the shrimp. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. To clean the squid, remove the tentacles and clean the inside of the body well. Put them on a skewer and gently cover them with the breadcrumb mixture. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Drizzle the shrimp and squid skewers with Academia Barilla Rviera Ligure DOP extra virgin olive oil, and cook the skewers on a hot grill, about 2 minutes per side. When done, sprinkle with a pinch of Academia Barilla Sea Salt with Blood Orange Zest and serve.

GRILLED MEAT, SERVES 4
Marinade and Cooking Instructions for Chicken and Turkey
Mix the Academia Barilla Monti Iblei DOP extra virgin olive oil with the Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani herb mix, and rub the mixture on the chicken and turkey. Marinate for at least 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Before grilling the meat, it is best to bring it to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator 10 minutes before cooking. The meat should be grilled for about 5 minutes, depending on its weight. At the end, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Marinade and Cooking Instructions for Pork Chops
Pick off thyme leaves and slice garlic. Rub the pork chops with Academia Barilla IGP Toscano extra virgin olive oil and thyme. 

Then place the fresh garlic slices on top. Allow it to marinate for at least 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator. To avoid burning the garlic and thyme during cooking, it is best to remove them from the meat before grilling. Also, the meat should be left at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before cooking. Grill the meat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once cooked, slice the ribs and serve. 
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Marinade and Cooking Instructions for Lamb Chops
Marinate the lamb chops with Academia Barilla Balsamic Must and Monti Iblei DOP extra virgin olive oil for at least 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 
Before cooking the lamb, keep at room temperature for at least 10 minutes. 
Grill the meat for 5 to 6 minutes and serve. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Did you know that library houses over 4,700 historic menus from the 19th and 20th centuries? And did you know that they are all available for public view should you make the very worthwhile trip to visit us in Parma, Italy?

And in perhaps even more exciting news for our friends on the other side of the Atlantic, many of these menus are available online.

Hidden within the Gastronomic Library section of the Academia Barilla website, you will find a wide array beautifully decorated menus that mark milestones of Italian gastronomic history. There is so much to explore… so let’s get started.

Here is a fun historical fact.
Menus – or printed lists of dishes to be served at a specific occasion – did not appear until around 1810 when formal dining in Europe witnessed a major change. Prior to this date, most formal dinners were presented with traditional French service, which meant that all the dishes were placed down on the banquet table at once.
However, in Russian service dinner guests were served one dish at a time, over the course of the evening. Printed menu cards were presented to the guests, like playbills, giving them a preview of what was to come. These elegant menus of yesteryear are not unlike the prix-fixe menus you might fine in a contemporary fine-dining restaurant or at a gala dinner.

As was custom during the 19th and some of the 20th century, many of the menus are printed in French – the language of European diplomacy. However, with the unification of Italy, the menus printed in Italian began to appear.

The Academia Barilla virtual menu gallery is subdivided into sections, making it easy to navigate. The “A Menu a Month” section contains 12 menus – one for each calendar month – and is a fun introduction to the collection.

A brief description of the event for which the menu was printed is presented next to the digital image of the menu itself. You can click on the image to enlarge the menu, allowing you to read, for example, exactly what Umberto I of Savoy at for lunch on February 27, 1897.

In the “Menus of the Italian Nobility” section, you will find the menus from meals served to many of Italy’s great noble families. Take a trip back in time by scrolling through the menus from the Borromeo, Meli Lupi di Soragna, Negroni, Spinola, Visconti and Litta family lunch and dinner parties. One of the Spinola family documents even contains a seating chart for a 1920 lunch held at the Villa Spinola in Genoa.

And there are even more hidden treasures to be discovered in the “Historic Menus from the House of Savoy” and “Menus of the Italian Government” sections of the gallery. Here you can explore what the Vittorio Emanuele III used to eat for dinner or what the Italian Ministry served visiting diplomats.

You may even be surprised to find a menu including pizza alla Napoletana, served with sparkling wine no less.

Come and join us on a gallery tour!

Still trying to figure out what to serve your guests this Easter? Not sure where you will find all the right ingredients? No need to look any further.

The Academia Barilla Easter Gift Pack has everything you need to make this Easter a day to remember.

Traditionally in Italy, Easter is a day spent together with your family. And as is the case with almost every Italian holiday, one can anticipate sitting down to long lunch or dinner. Easter is a time of celebration and where better to do celebrate than gathered around the table. Good food and good company is what it is all about.

Although we cannot help you with the company part, we can certainly give you a hand with the food. We understand that a great meal starts with great ingredients, so Academia Barilla has put together a special selection of Italian products to help you get started.

Our Easter Gift Pack includes,

a bottle of Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil
a bottle of Academia Barilla Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
a jar of Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani
and a jar of Academia Barilla Black Olive Sicilian Sea Salt.

All of our ingredients are rich in flavor and tradition. And each one can be used separately, or in combination, to bring new life to your favorite springtime recipes.

The Academia Barilla Easter Gift Pack is easy to order and easy to send. It is an ideal gift for any Italian food lover or passionate home cook. What’s even better is that we have decided to offer FREE GROUND SHIPPING for any order place through Monday, April 13th.

And should you still be searching for what to serve to your guests next Sunday, might we suggest a traditional Italian Easter dish of lamb with artichokes. A special thanks to the team of Academia Barilla chefs who crafted this recipe using many of the ingredients included in our Easter Gift Pack. Buon appetito e buona pasqua!

LAMB WITH ARTICHOKES AND SAPORI ITALIANI
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4 to 6
· 2.2 lbs of Lamb loin
· 6 artichoke hearts
· 1 clove of garlic, chopped
· 1 bunch of mint leaves, chopped
· Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil
· 4 oz. of Academia Barilla Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
· Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani, to taste
· salt and pepper, to taste

PREPARATION
Clean the loin of lamb, leaving it whole.
Flavor the lamb with Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani and allow it to marinate at least one hour.
To clean the artichokes, cut them in half, and then julienne (meaning to cut them into short, thin strips). Place artichokes in the pan with a little Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sauté until tender. Once the artichokes are done, add the chopped garlic and mint; mix gently.

Brown the lamb in the pan with some Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and then put it in the oven until it is finished cooking (approximately 10 minutes). Just before the lamb is finished, degrease and douse with Academia Barilla Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. Once the lamb is finished cooking, let it rest for a few minutes.

Place the cooked artichokes in the center of a dish.
Slice the lamb, following the line of the ribs, and place them on top of the artichokes. Drizzle it slightly with the Academia Barilla Balsamic Vinegar of Modena remaining in the pan and the flavorful Academia Barilla IGP Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil and serve.

Gorgonzola is a blue cow’s milk cheese originally from the small town of Gorgonzola, located less than 15 miles northeast of Milan. For more information on this legendary Italian blue, be sure to check out Chef Matteo Carboni’s video presentation.

In this recipe, the spicy, piquant flavor of the gorgonzola is balanced by the sweetness of the fresh pear sauce. Follow the chef’s directions for making a perfectly rewarding risotto.
What a wonderful way to finish your day.

RISOTTO WITH GORGONZOLA AND FRESH PEAR SAUCE
Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS
For the pear sauce:
- 3 pears, medium-sized
- ½ clove garlic
- 2 sprigs of marjoram
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp of Academia Barilla 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the risotto:
- 8 oz Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice
- ½ onion
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 3 oz gorgonzola
- 1 oz butter
- 1 oz Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano aged 18
- 2 tbsp of Academia Barilla 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION
The Pear Sauce
Cut the pears into quarters. Peel and core them. Peel garlic clove and cut in half. Heat a tbsp or two of Academia Barilla 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a pot and add garlic, roughly chopped pears and marjoram. Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Then, season with salt and pepper. Add vegetable stock and cook until soft. When pears are done cooking, remove from heat and set aside.

The Risotto
Begin to prepare the risotto by chopping 1/2 onion. Add a couple tbsp Academia Barilla 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil to a pot. When the oil is hot, add finely chopped onion and a pinch of salt and stir. When onion is soft, add rice and another pinch of salt. Stir constantly so rice doesn’t stick and toasts uniformly. Once rice is toasted, start adding boiling stock, a ladleful at a time. When stock evaporates and rice becomes slightly dry, add more stock. Continue cooking in this way for 16 to 18 minutes, depending on the variety of rice.

Return your attention to the pears. Once cooked, add freshly ground black pepper to the pot and then blend into a smooth pear puree. Finish cooking the risotto. Remove from heat when risotto still has a little liquid. Add ½ of the gorgonzola and butter. Cover and let rest for a minute. Add remaining gorgonzola and Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano aged 18 months. To serve, pour a ladleful of pear sauce into each bowl. Place 2 large spoonfuls of risotto on top of sauce. Finish with a sprig of marjoram and freshly ground black pepper.

This simple, seasonal dish is certain to keep you warm while you wait for spring. Thanks Chef Matteo for another great recipe to add to our collection.

While the Academia Barilla website is now completed, as well as all the new website features we invite you to explore, we are now working on the restyle/redesign of the Academia Barilla online store, that will be released in its new version soon.

We love our blog and we couldn’t stay away from it, so here we are again, back to blogging.

Since you can now discover gourmet recipes from the Italian regional gastronomic tradition at the new Academia Barilla website, we asked Barilla Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni to provide us with a recipe from our beloved region, Emilia-Romagna, and he provided us with a recipe for a classic dish: Veal Cotoletta alla Bolognese, that Chef Boni pairs with a side of Asparagus Tips and Cherry Tomatoes sautéed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

VEAL COTOLETTA ALLA BOLOGNESE
A recipe by Chef Lorenzo Boni
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- 4 Veal chops, 12 oz each
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups, freshly grated bread crumbs
- 4 slices, Academia Barilla Prosciutto di Parma
- 1 very thin cup, Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved
- 1/2 cup, Veal demi-glace or concentrated stock
- 1 cup cream
- fresh white Truffles, to taste (jarred white truffles optional)
- few drops truffle oil, optional
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 2 tablespoon Academia Barilla Unfiltered extra virvin olive oil
- Giada De Laurentiis Selected by Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Lemon Zest, to taste
- Academia Barilla Cherry Tomatoes, to taste
- black pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

Pound the meat so that it is 1/3 inch in thickness, season with sea salt and pepper and dust with flour.

Dip each slice in beaten eggs and then cover in bread crumbs. Fry both sides of the chop in butter, discarding the excess.

Cover each chop with truffles, a slice of Academia Barilla Prosciutto di Parma, and Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano.

Deglaze with a little cream and veal jus and place it in the oven to melt for a few minutes.

CHEF TIPS

Serve with vegetables on the side, we suggest asparagus tips and cherry tomatoes sautéed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Sauté the asparagus and cherry tomatoes in the Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil over medium heat. Season with the Lemon Sea Salt and black pepper to taste.

Thank you Lorenzo for sharing your first recipe and chef tips of the year with us!

We will be back to blogging properly soon - in the meanwhile, we invite you to explore our new website and to keep an eye (or a click) on the soon-to-be-relaunched Academia Barilla online store!