Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary specialist Francesco Zimone is very busy this week with a series of gourmet tasting events in California.

We just received an email from Francesco, who was very excited about the success of last Monday’s dinner at the Palmeri Restaurant in Brentwood, LA.

Those who follow our blog with regularity already know that Academia Barilla partners Chef Ottavio Palmeri and his LA Restaurant for a series of themed Italian dinners that take place every first Monday of each month, with Chef Palmeri designing the entire menu getting inspiration from the Academia Barilla range of Italian gourmet products.

Let me quote Francesco for more details on last Monday’s dinner at Ristorante Palmeri.

Last night event at Palmeri was amazing, thank you so much for the support with recipes and the blog coverage.

The formula of the event is getting better and better. I was dressed in Academia Barilla Chef’s attire and we started dinner with a shot of Pomodorini pelati (peeled cherry tomatoes), black olive salt, Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil and basil.

Next on the Palmeri menu was Pesce crudo con un tocco di Riviera Ligure (raw fish with Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive oil), followed by Involtino di melenzane (stuffed eggplant) with a touch of Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil, Peperonata (Bell Peppers salad) and Involtino di pescespada (stuffed swordfish) covered with Balsamic Must (with additional Balsamic Must on a side for Balsamic tasting).

We closed dinner with one of Ottavio Palmeri’s top Sicilian specialties, a Cannolo Siciliano served with some Hand-Cut Pears with Balsamic Vinegar on the side.

Every client got great attention and then they left with a can of peeled cherry tomatos and a recipe. Everybody asked and signed on my business card the products they loved. I told everybody they could find the products at Bay City Stores and soon also at Bristol Farms - and Chef Palmeri already started working on next month’s menu!

If you live in the LA area you should absolutely try to join the Academia Barilla and Palmeri teams at the next gourmet dinner, scheduled for Monday April 1, 2008.

You can refer to our blog post from last month to get all the restaurant contact info, including a Google Map for your driving directions.

Chef Central, the NY and NJ-based superstore for Chefs located in Hartsdale, NY and Paramus, NJ, is celebrating this month the Annual Italian Month.

Defined “…the most amazing place - a ‘Toys R Us’ for cooks…” (Chef Alton Brown) and “…a 15,000 square foot paradise for cooks…” (Epicurean Magazine), Chef Central also hosts a calendar of events, that this month include also two free gourmet tasting events with Academia Barilla.

Join Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary Specialist Rosario Procino at Chef Central Hartsdale, NY on Wednesday February 20, or in Chef Central Paramus, NJ, on Saturday February 23. If you live in the North-East of the United States you might not want to miss this event dedicated to Italian cuisine.

The directions to the Chef Central superstores are here below, with a Google Map to help you with personalized driving directions:

Chef Central Paramus, NJ
Paramus Towne Square 240 Route 17 North Paramus, NJ 07652
(between Buy Buy Baby & Circuit City)

Store Phone: (201) 576-0100
Store Hours: Mon – Sat 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday

Chef Central Hartsdale, NY
45 South Central Avenue Hartsdale, NY 10530

Store Phone: (914) 328-1376
Store Hours: Mon – Sat 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Sun 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Rosario Procino will be all day available during store hours to give you his best specialist advice on some of the most delicious Italian gourmet products from Academia Barilla, such as the Academia Barilla range of Italian extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegar products, or the newly released line of hand-harvested gourmet sea salts from Sicily.

If you cannot attend the event at Chef Central just follow our blog, we’ll be reporting about other events across the United States hoping you’ll be able to catch our never-stopping team of Italian Culinary Specialist.

If you can’t wait for the next academia Barilla tasting event, just go ahead and visit us at our online store, where you can find a full range of Italian specialty food products as well as gourmet gift ideas.

After introducing the “Discover Barilla” project last week, we have another important announcement about our parent company’s online activity. Barilla, the world’s number one pasta maker, announced last week its second annual call on pasta lovers to help fight hunger in the United States with the launch of The Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook.

To create the cookbook, Barilla US asked 5 of America’s favorite celebrities, one of the world’s leading Italian chefs and the most prominent party planner in the U.S. to help celebrate the Italian Table in 6 different ways.

Hollywood celebrities Stanley Tucci, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing, Natalie Portman and Chris Daughtry shared their favorite pasta dishes with us. Chef Mario Batali recreated these dishes and developed a special menu for each party, while David Tutera developed creative and stunning table designs to make each experience special.

Barilla’s Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook offers the following celebrity-inspired recipes and table settings:
- Romantic Night with Chris Daughtry’s Rigatoni with Basil and Gorgonzola
- Celebratory Feast with Debra Messing’s Penne alla Vodka
- Girlfriends Gathering with Natalie Portman’s Penne alla Puttanesca
- Dinner Party with Marisa Tomei’s Farfalle “alla Marisa”
- Family Dinner with Stanley Tucci’s Spaghetti al Tonno
- Babbo with Mario Batali’s restaurant favorite Fettuccine with Zucca

The Celebrity Italian Table Cookbook is available online for free download at www.celebrityitaliantable.com for the entire month of February. For every downloaded copy of the cookbook, Barilla will donate 1$ to America’s Second Harvest, the US Food Bank Network. To thank the celebrities for their participation, Barilla is also making an additional $5,000 donation to America’s Second Harvest on their behalf. Follow this link for a cookbook preview, or this link for a direct download.

Since 1997, Barilla has been a supporter of America’s Second Harvest, donating over 5 million pounds of pasta. Donations are distributed among more than 200 member food banks serving all 50 states, the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico.

“Today in America there are more than 35 million people, 12 million of whom are children, who are at risk of hunger,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “We are grateful to have Barilla’s continued support for our fight against hunger. It’s easy to do your part by simply downloading this year’s cookbook.”

“Barilla is passionate about supporting hunger relief and passing on Italian traditions that show others how to bring people together around the table,” said Kirk Trofholz, president of Barilla US. “We are thrilled to partner again with America’s Second Harvest on this campaign and be part of such a highly worthwhile cause.”

Beside of the main fund raising for Second Harvest, The Celebrity Italian Table website proposes a photo contest, with the help of the online community of Gather.com: upload your Italian Table pictures on ItalianTable.Gather.com and every week a winner will receive a Barilla gift basket filled with pastas, sauces and olive oils. All weekly winners will be also eligible to win the grand prize of a $500 gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma. See the contest website for details.

More precious resources for all Italian food lovers are available at ItalianTable.Gather.com, such as premium articles by Barilla on how to host a pasta party, or the complete “Pasta 101: A Quick Guide for Making Perfect Pasta Every Time“.

Don’t forget to download your Celebrity Italian Cookbook today - your download will help Second Harvest, and will make all your friends happy next time you’ll invite them for an all-Italian, celebrity-inspired lunch or dinner!

The 1st Monday of the month at Palmieri Ristorante, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, is turning into a classic night for both LA residents and traveling gourmands. We already blogged about the gourmet menus prepared by Chef Ottavio Palmieri, but the Chef’s creativity never stops, so you can enjoy every week new dishes and a new menu concept designed by the Sicilian Chef.

Academia Barilla partners Palmieri Ristorante for the Wine and food pairing nights, that feature creative and traditional dishes put together by Chef Palmieri, with the help of Academia Barilla gourmet ingredients, every first Monday of each month including today, February 4.

Check out today’s menu, with the dishes’ names in Sicilian:

Pani (breads)

Semolina and Sesame seed bread

Pi N’Cuminciari (starters)

Brusciuvia
Vegetable soup with Fava, Garbanzo and Pinto beans, lentils, peas
Drizzled with “Academia Barilla” Sicilian extra virgin olive oil

Carpacciu di Pisci Spada chi Finocchi e Aranci
Smoked Swordfish “ Carpaccio”; Fennel and Orange salad sprinkled with Academia Barilla Orange sea salt from Sicilia

Wine pairing: Donna Fugata Anthilia 2006

Primi Piatti (pasta entrees)

Involtini di Pasta chi Milinciani
Spaghetti, smoked mozzarella, tomato sauce, Almond-basil Pesto, wrapped around sliced eggplant and baked in the wood-burning oven

Pasta ca’ Buttarga
Spaghetti with chili flakes, garlic and Academia Barilla Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, “Bottarga” and “Mollica”

Wine pairing: iGurrida Triumph Grenace 2002

Pisci (fish)

Involtini di Pisci Spada
Rolls Swordfish, “Piacentino Ennese”, bread crumbs, herbs, salmoriglio and caponata

Wine pairing: Sedaca 2005

Carni (meat)

Viteddu
Braised Veal medallion with eggplant, mozzarella, in a tomato and herbs sauce

Wine pairing: Tancredi Donna Fugata 2003

Cosi Duci (dessert)

Cannoli
Chest ”Mamma Dorotea” Tangy Orange flavored ricotta cheese and Pistacchios

Wine pairing: Ben-Rye 2006

Academia Barilla Italian Culinary specialist Francesco Zimone will be available on site for Italian culinary tips; ask him about the several ways to use the Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salts from Sicily, or other Academia Barilla products.

The dinner cover is $55.00 per person (+ tax & gratuity) and you’ll better book your table in advance by calling the Palmieri Restaurant at (310) 442-8446, as seats are limited.

The address is Palmieri Ristorante, 11650 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles CA - we provide a Google Map here below, so you can get accurate driving directions to the restaurant.

Last week we blogged about the Marco Polo Foundation and the culinary school’s exchange program that allowed a dozen US students to spend 2 weeks at the Academia Barilla Culinary School in Parma, Italy.

Today we want to share with you one of the gourmet recipes the students have been challenged to prepare under the guidance of Academia Barilla Executive Chef Nicola Bindini: Passatelli pasta with prosciutto, rucola, cherry tomatoes and eggplants.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

PASSATELLI PASTA WITH PROSCIUTTO, RUCOLA, CHERRY TOMATOES AND EGGPLANTS
(a recipe prepared by the Marco Polo students at the Academia Barilla Culinary School)

INGREDIENTS:

For the Passatelli pasta:

- 10.58 oz. breadcrumbs
- 7.05 oz. Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
- 3.53 oz. Prosciutto di Parma
- 1.41 oz. white flour
- 6 eggs

For the sauce:

- rucola (arucola), 3 bunches
- 1 medium size eggplant
- 3.53 oz. Academia Barilla Cherry tomatoes
- 1.41 oz. peeled almonds
- 1.76 oz. Academia Barilla Parmigiano Reggiano, slivered
- Academia Barilla 100% Italiano Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to taste
- garlic cloves, to taste

PREPARATION
(preparation time 15’)

- Finely mince the prosciutto in order to avoid the meat from sticking in the holes of the utensil for the passatelli.

- Add the minced prosciutto to the other ingredients for the passatelli, and mix them together. Then form the mixture into balls, cover them with wrapper and leave in the fridge.

- Clean the vegetables, cut the tomatoes and take away the seeds. Cut the eggplant into small cubes and brown in a pan with olive oil.

- Put in a blender the rucola, the almonds, the parmigiano, the garlic and the extra virgin olive oil. Mix until creamy.

- Mix the cherry tomatoes with the eggplant and cook the passatelli in salted water or broth.

- Drain and season in a pan with the vegetables and the rucola pesto. Put into dishes and serve.