Academia Barilla and the NY-based epicurean company Alta Cucina recently agreed to partner in order to provide an easier access to their product and services to their reciprocal customers.

Academia Barilla customers and friends (this extends to all our Italian food Lovers readership - yes, we mean you reading this now) are now entitled to a good discount on the Alta Cucina membership fee.

With only 25$ per year (instead of the current 45$) the Alta Cucina membership will give you access to all the following benefits:

- monthly newsletter, available only to members, containing information on the latest products, trends, restaurants and recipes from famous Chefs, specially created for Alta Cucina Members;
- a welcome gift package of Gourmet Italian products (value $30);
- Nonna Genia, a classic Langhe recipes cookbook (value $18);
- member price discounts for four people to all the Alta Cucina events
- 10% discount to selected restaurants (check member restaurant list on Alta Cucina website for specific discount);
- 10% discount of all the product from the Alta Cucina shopping mall;
- a $30 discount on every Eurofly ticket from the USA to Italy (discount applies only on flight booked directly from the Alta Cucina or Eurofly websites);
- two $25 coupons (a value of $50 a year) for drinks and beverages, to be used twice a year, once every six months, at the Whaler Bar at the Jolly Hotel Madison Towers in New York;
- special discounts on selected events and trips.

Wow, that is a lot of value for a 25$ membership! In order to access this great offer just click this link or visit the membership page at the Alta Cucina website at www.altacucinasociety.com, and claim your discount by using the code academiabarilla.

Also, there is a great Academia Barilla offer for Alta Cucina members, who now get a 10% discount on any purchase at the Academia Barilla online store. Alta Cucina members will get their discount code with an Alta Cucina newsletter.

We’ll keep you updated on the upcoming initiatives between Academia Barilla and Alta Cucina. In the meantime, we suggest you get their membership!

Today, March 21, is the first day of Spring; we leave behind us the cold days of winter (not so cold this year, after all) and look forward for more and more beautiful days of primavera, spring time.

So how about planning a trip to Parma, in the heart of Emilia-Romagna and the Italian Food Valley? Academia Barilla could be your perfect host for your Italian gourmet vacations.

Amazing Medieval town rich of culture and with plenty of historic highlights that meet culinary culture (check out our blog article from last year for a virtual visit to the city), Parma is also, as our readership knows, home to Academia Barilla, its Culinary School, and of course BIGAB, Academia Barilla’s Gastronomic Library.

Both Academia Barilla’s Culinary School and Gastronomic Library will release their official calendar of events and gourmet and cultural initiatives soon (you get a peek preview on BIGAB’s activities from a previous post), but make sure that you will have plenty of choices that you can customize.

Academia Barilla’s culinary learning vacations include everything from gourmet tours of the Italian Food Valley to hands-on Italian cooking classes at the Culinary School, cultural guided tours, exploration of traditional farms and local artisan producers of Italian regional specialties and more, including on the cultural side of experiencing Italy. Opera? We got that too. Contemporary art? Of course. Cinema? Yep.

Getting curious? We suggest you stay tuned with this blog for more details coming up soon, but also that you start inquiring at Academia Barilla about the gastronomic and cultural initiatives for 2008. You can call directly Academia Barilla in Parma, Italy at +39 0521 264-060 or toll-free number (numero verde) 800 376-116; if you are in the United States you can reach Academia Barilla the toll-free number 866 772-2233.

In the meanwhile, explore our Parma photo set on Flickr.com! (click on the image to go to the photo set).

See you in Parma in primavera!

The Italian Easter feast is the most symbolic of all Italian feasts. Although regional recipes and menus may differ depending on seasonal specialties and locality, the main essentials can be commonly found in almost every Italian Easter Day menu. Among them include eggs, lamb, and symbolic shaped breads.

Eggs are traditionally served in almost every dish, from soups to sweet breads, served on Easter Day to recognize that they represent rebirth and life. Another custom for Italians on Easter is to include lamb, grilled or roasted, on the menu to recognize and remember the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. The Dove, symbolizing peace, has become the shape of the famous traditional Easter cake, Colomba Pasquale (Colomba means dove and Pasqua means Easter).

Today, we share with you the recipe for Lamb Chops with Basil Pesto, and tomorrow we’ll publish also the recipe for the classic Colomba Pasquale. Both entries will surely bring Italian gourmet highlights to your Easter Day menu.

Ref: The source of the image above is Valentino Marcattili’s cookbook “Il San Domenico di Imola - Estetica del cibo, le cantine, i sapori della tavola” (Imola’s St. Domenico - Food aesthetic, cantinas, the flavors of food), edited by Rizzoli, and available at the Academia Barilla Gastronomic Library in Parma, Italy.

LAMB CHOP WITH BASIL PESTO
(serves 6)

INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds lamb loin
- 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2/3 cup Academia Barilla D.O.P. Monti Iblei Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Academia Barilla Pecorino Gran Cru
- Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Black Olives, to taste
- freshly ground Pepper, to taste
- Academia Barilla 8-years Balsamic Must of Modena, if desired

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Clean the lamb loin and slice it into chops.

Combine the basil, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Add the D.O.P. Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil and process until fully mixed and smooth.

Transfer the pesto to a large mixing bowl and season with Natural Sea Salt with Black Olives and freshly ground pepper and stir in the freshly grated Pecorino Gran Cru.

Sprinkle the Lamb chops with Natural Sea Salt with Black Olives and freshly ground pepper.

In a large grill pan, heat 2 tablespoons of D.O.P. Monti Iblei extra virgin olive oil over high heat and place the chops in the skillet and cook just until brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.

Transfer the Lamb chops to a large baking sheet. Roast the lamb in the oven for about 15 - 25 minutes or until they are cooked to the desired doneness. When done, pull the Lamb chops out and let them rest for about 5 minutes.

Spread the pesto mixture over 1 side of each chop so that it is covered in a thin pesto layer.

Transfer the Lamb chops to a large serving platter and arrange the Lamb chops with the pesto side up.

CHEF TIPS

If desired, sprinkle with a little extra freshly grated Pecorino Gran Cru and with Balsamic Must vinegar for an intense and sweet finish.

Buon appetito, and Buona Pasqua from Academia Barilla!

Remember that all the gourmet ingredients of this recipes are available at the best gourmet specialty stores, and are also a click away from you, available at the Academia Barilla online store!

Academia Barilla is proud to introduce three new Italian gourmet products dedicated to the tastes of regional Italian cuisine.

Introducing Sapori Italiani, authentic Italian Flavors, a line of Italian gourmet specialties made exclusively by hand on small regional estates in Italy, using only local, typical ingredients. Sapori Italiani allows finish any dish with real Italian flair and taste.

The first product is Academia Barilla’s Sapori Italiani Mix, an exclusive selection of Italian herbs from small Tuscan and Sicilian estates.

Hand packed with wild oregano, capers and cured olives, this all natural mix gives true Italian taste to any dish and is ideal on a variety of dishes and perfect for every day use. Try on pasta, pizza, salads, bruschetta and grilled meats.

A great add-on to the Academia Barilla family of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOO) is the brand-new Unfiltered Oil, a product of Sicily, in the heart of the sunny Mediterranean. Made from Sicilian olive varieties Cerasuola and Nocellara del Belice, Academia Barilla’s Unfiltered Oil offers a medium fruitiness and very fresh aromas, with strong undertones of green grass, pachino tomatoes and oregano.

The most natural EVOO available from Italy, this oil is produced with innovative methods that surpass traditional centrifuge processes, leaving the oil’s original flavors and properties intact, with no sediments or pulp. Versatile, for everyday use, Academia Barilla’s Unfiltered olive oil gives his best on marinades, dressings, cooking, dipping and bruschetta.

Last but not last new entry in the Academia Barilla line of Italian olive oils is the new 100% Organic Oil. Produced in Umbria, in the heart of Italy, 100% Organic Oill is one of the few organic olive oils available made from 100% Italian, organic olives. With a medium fruitiness, and mild hints of ripe olive, grass and sweet almonds Academia Barilla’s 100% Organic Oil is the perfect companion for versatile, everyday use organic marinades, dressings, cooking and dipping.

We’ll publish some recipes soon with the new Academia Barilla ingredients, so stay tuned! In the meanwhile, do not forget that the new gourmet Sapori Italiani are available at the Academia Barilla online store!

Today we want to introduce on Italian Food Lovers a very interesting twist in Italian food, featuring Academia Barilla 100% Italian extra virgin olive oil! We are talking about a product that introduces a real fusion between Italian and US Southwestern flavors and food cultures: Gourmet Italian Chili!

Available in both sausage and vegetarian variations, the one-of-a-kind, first-to-market Gourmet Italian Chili is a unique Italian spin on the classic American-Southwestern chili, never before seen in the US marketplace.

Produced by South Carolina-based Annette Fioravanti who uses only the finest ingredients and true Italian flair, Annette’s Italian Chili has already shown signs of being the next big hit in specialty food stores nationwide. Annette’s Gourmet Italian Chili comes in three variations: Annette’s Spicy Sausage Italian Chili, Annette’s Mild Sausage Italian Chili, and Annette’s Vegetarian Italian Chili - enough choice for all chili lovers!

We reached out to Annette for a brief email interview, and she told us that she decided to adopt Academia Barilla 100% Italiano extra virgin olive oil for her Italian Chili since her family used Barilla olive oil for many years, and this tradition has been carried over to the second generation.

Of course, Annette chooses the 100% Italian olive oil in the 101 oz. can version, which is ideal for her production use as well as for restaurant cuisine, and available at the Academia Barilla online shop.

“During the Chicago NRA show we had the opportunity to sample several Academia Barilla olive oils. We were most fascinated with the Academia Barilla 100% Italiano, which we decided to incorporate into our recently developed three Italian chili recipes.

We were most impressed by the deliciously mild and velvet flavoring that enhances the perfect taste in the recipes, which is the reason why we selected it over several other well known brands… it emphasizes the aromas that make our products distinct.”

Want some serving suggestions for Annette’s Italian Chili? We asked directly to Annette, and these are her suggestions for enjoying this gourmet product at best.

“Our recipes are made with premium ingredients, and are all natural with no preservatives. We provide products that are prepared within a matter of a few minutes, just open heat and serve. Easy serving suggestions? Here we go:

Main meal
- After heating add some shredded cheese and a dab of sour cream, serve with your favorite hearty chips (we love it with the Garden of Eatin Blue Red Hot Chips);
- Serve over a nice dish of pasta, baked potato, or bed of rice.

Casserole
- Heat your favorite recipe then pour over a layer of hearty chips add shredded cheese then place under broiler until cheese melts
- Serve as a dip with hearty chips (big hit on Superbowl Sunday!)

If you want to get to know more Annette’s range of gourmet Italian Chili products just visit her website at www.annettes-gourmet-italian-chili.com. You can also get in touch directly with Annette Fioravanti for further serving suggestions, recipes, and product distribution info at +1 (386) 846-8428.

A nice video about Annette’s Italian traditions and cultural heritage can be also found at this link on GourmetFoodTube.com, while you can find more recipes and serving suggestions to enjoy Annette’s Italian Chili on Annette’s website.