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.

At this year’s Academia Barilla Film Awards, in place of red carpets and designer gowns, there were potato and onion frittata. The films nominated for an Academia Barilla film award included stories of chefs hard at work, a family of wine-barrel makers and even an impromptu cooking lesson.

On March 4th, a group of talented filmmakers gathered in the Academia Barilla auditorium to learn the results of this year’s competition for the best short film relating to food culture, and more specifically, to the role of the chef. For the fifth year in a row, a expert jury of culture, cinema and food professionals screened and judged all the nominated films in order to select the winner of the coveted Academia Barilla Storie di Cucina, or “Stories from the Kitchen,” Award.

The competition was fierce, but ultimately first prize was awarded to Vicenzo Cascone for his film La Variante Sultano about a Sicilian chef, Ciccio Sultano. Congratulations Vicenzo!
Vicenzo’s film and interview with Chef Sultano really captured the spirit of what it is like to work in a restaurant kitchen. If you have ever spent time stirring sauce as a line cook, or prepping vegetables late into the night, you know that the work of the chef is both tiring, yet rewarding. Nothing can compare to the satisfaction of a happy customer. But if one thing is for certain, it is the kitchen hierarchy.
As Chef Sultano explains, “cooking is one of the few professions left in the world where a real military hierarchy still exists. A young chef or cook’s assistant must take orders from who ever is on top, otherwise the system will break down.”

The film also captures the importance of the artisinal food producers. Without the natural salt miner, the cheese maker or the olive grower, Chef Sultano would not be able to do his job. The local products that he chooses to use in the kitchen are made with the same integrity he works with himself – and hopes to pass on to the rest of his kitchen staff.

And then, of course, there are the bread and pasta makers. The farmers, the millers and the bakers who transform flour, yeast, salt and water into something much more than its component parts.

Another interesting point made by Chef Sultano is that food should not be judged by a single forkful. In order to evaluate a dish, one must sit down at a table and eat it from beginning to end. Only in this way are you able to understand whether or not it is a success. “The food should not be difficult to eat. This plate itself should not be uncomfortable to eat from,” says Sultano. Attention should also be paid to the presentation and the colors on the plate.

Thanks Vicenzo and thanks Chef Sultano for giving insight into the life and job of a chef!

If you are interested in watching Vicenzo’s winning film, it is currently available on the Academia Barilla website, along with this year’s other winners and nominees. Buona visione!

After scouring the shelves of the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library in search of information about famous historical figures with a love for Italian food and culture, we have put together a list of stories and recipes guaranteed to whet your appetite.

From Cato the Censor, a Roman statesman and gifted orator, to the lovable Italian comedic actor Totò, our findings span over two millennia of history.

Did you know that Giuseppe Verdi often gave a cooked pork shoulder, or spalla cotta, to his friends as a gift? Or that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II had a soft spot for candied violets?

Take, for example, the case of Napoleon Bonaparte. As it turns out, this fierce French emperor, ate exactly the same thing, chicken Marengo, after every military victory. This dish was served to him on the battlefield after he defeated the Austrians at Marengo in 1800. Napoleon’s chef assembled the dish using ingredients he took from nearby families and farmers, including chicken, eggs, shrimp and tomatoes. Napoleon liked the dish so much that he demanded that his chef prepare chicken Marengo after every winning battle for then on out.

Are you familiar with the life and career of Enrico Caruso? Caruso – possibly the greatest tenor of all times – born in Naples, but traveled the world performing in all the top opera houses. However, when Caruso returned to Naples to perform at the legendary San Carlo theater, he received harsh criticism for his performance from his fellow Neapolitans.

With a scared ego, Caruso vowed never to return to Naples, except for a plate of bucatini with tomato sauce! For instructions on how to prepare Caruso-style pasta, visit the Academia Barilla website.

To discover more fascinating stories, and recipes, from famous people throughout history, join us “At the table with…”

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!