Italian Food Lovers

As announced a couple of weeks ago in a press release and a blog posting here on Italian Food Lovers, Academia Barilla just launched a new series of Italian gourmet specialty foods that enrich the Academia Barilla gourmet product line, which is available at the best gourmet and specialty food stores across the United States and worldwide, and of course at the Academia Barilla online shop.

Today we want to focus on some products that will bring the flavors of Italy, the new Academia Barilla Italian Cheese Spreads, Pasta Toppings and Pesto Genovese, right to your table.

The new Academia Barilla Cherry Tomato Pasta Toppings come in two flavors: a mild and sweet variety and a spicy and sweet variety.

Both Sicilian recipes are authentic and offer a delicious succulent blend of naturally sun dried Pachino cherry tomatoes and include fresh basil; the spicy variety also contains hot chili peppers. Academia Barilla’s pasta toppings are very versatile as a base ingredient, and can also be used as bruschetta and pizza toppings, as well as for appetizers, focaccia, couscous, roasted fish and meat.

Academia Barilla’s Pesto Alla Genovese is a unique non-pasteurized fresh pesto direct from the Italian seaside town of San Remo in Liguria.

The freshest basil of the Riviera, top quality extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and whole pine nuts make this recipe tangy and sweet, perfect for a variety of dishes. This product is available exclusively at the Sur La Table online store.

The Academia Barilla range of spreadable Italian cheeses is the result of premium quality Italian cheeses of time honored tradition and culinary innovation to create authentic, unique combinations.

These spreadable cheeses are the ideal solution for quick and easy dishes. Offering a Parmigiano Reggiano D.O.P. variety and a Pecorino Sardo with Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms, these spreadable cheeses are a perfect addition to crackers, meats, pasta dishes, sandwiches, sauces and vegetables, and a new way to experience Parmigiano Reggiano and Sardinian Pecorino.

A product approved by the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium in Emilia Romagna, Italy, the Academia Barilla Parmigiano-Reggiano D.O.P. Cheese Spread brings to the Italian food lovers’ tables delicate notes of fresh milk, yogurt and honey, and a taste with intense sensation of Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

Academia Barilla also just launched a Pecorino Sardo, Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms Cheese Spread: this recipe brings food lovers the prestigious Bianchetto white Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms from Tuscany to celebrate Italian gourmet flavors.

Produced in Sardinia, Italy, the new Spreadable Cheese with Pecorino Sardo with Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms brings an aroma with delicate notes of fresh milk and cream, and the intense undertones of Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms. Its milky and sweet tones and the very well balanced aroma define a full round flavor for this new gourmet spreadable cheese, making it an ideal sauce to prepare Italian Rice and Pasta dishes. Also perfect spread on crackers and sandwiches, or melted on vegetables and grilled meats.

We will soon publish new gourmet recipes created by the Academia Barilla Chef Team with these new exciting Italian gourmet products, so stay tuned!

We did a terrible mistake at the Italian Food Lovers Editorial Team. We got a bulk of very good content from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Chef show, and we messed up with recipes and their attribution to the Chefs participating to the Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend.

Yesterday we published a recipe for a yummy Sautéed Wild Mushroom Bruschetta, and we said it was a recipe from Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, while the recipe is actually from Chef Doug D’Avico from Trattoria N. 10 in Chicago, a friend and Guest Chef at the Italian Food Lover Chef Network.

Chef D’Avico, pictured here above with Stefanie Sette from the Academia Barilla USA Marketing Team, participated to the Garden Chef Series at the Chicago Botanic Garden and shared with us two recipes he performed at the Chicago show: the Sautéed Wild Mushroom Bruschetta, and a yummy Grilled Baby Octopus with Watercress Salad and Oranges that we’ll publish very soon - stay tuned!

We apologize to Chef D’Avico for the mess, and also of course to all our readership and, last but not least, to Chef Lorenzo Boni, who also sent us a couple of recipes that we will publish in the next days.

At this point, we’ll republish the recipe again, also with the image sent us by Stephanie with the actual dish prepared by Chef D’Avico in Chicago.

SAUTEED WILD MUSHROOM BRUSCHETTA

A recipe by Chef Doug D’Avico
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- 8 oz Wild Mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed of any fibrous ends
- 1/2 ea Medium sized sweet onion, julienne
- 3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 fl oz Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 fl oz Sweet Marsala
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 ea Good quality Baguette
- Academia Barilla Pecorino Sardo, shaved
- 1 tub Truffle Spread
- Fresh thyme leaves for garnish
- Sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Pre-heat a 12” sauté pan over med high heat till hot. Add the cleaned mushrooms and tablespoon of the butter and cook till the mushrooms are soft and are starting to release their water. Cook for 3 minutes longer and then add the sliced onions.

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, season with a little salt and pepper and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes over the med high heat and cook till the onions start to caramelize. Do not burn.

You want to cook the mushrooms and onions till the liquid is all most evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Marsala carefully as the alcohol will catch on fire when you return it to the stove.

Reduce the Marsala by 2/3 and then add the cream. Bring to a boil and reduce to a sauce consistency, about 2 to 3 minutes. Check the seasoning and remove from the heat keeping the sauce warm till ready to use.

Cut 8 pieces of bread from the baguette about 1/2 inch thick on a 45 degree bias.

Toss the bread with a little splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. You can toast the bread in a hot oven or grill for a couple of minutes to warm the bread.

Next smear some of the Pecorino Sardo cheese on each piece of bread and sprinkle a few fresh thyme leaves on top.

Arrange 2 pieces of bread per plate and divide the mushroom sauce over the four plates. Drizzle a small amount of the olive oil over each plate and few thyme leaves and serve immediately.

Thank you Chef D’Avico for this easy-to-prepare gourmet recipe, and sorry again!!!

We will publish the second recipe from Chef D’Avico at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series soon!

As you know from our previous posts, Academia Barilla and Barilla USA brought the Italian cooking style to the Chicago Botanic Garden last week, participating to (and sponsoring) the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series with a full Barilla Italian Cooking Weekend.

As promised, we have plenty of recipes for you, shared with us by the Barilla Chefs and other Top Chefs participating to the Italian Cooking Weekend. Our first recipe from the event is from Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni, a quick and easy to prepare Sautéed Wild Mushroom Bruschetta.

For those who don’t know what a bruschetta is, here is a link to the Wikipedia, where you can discover more on this century-old dish. Bruschetta is a food whose origin dates to at least the 15th century from central Italy.

It consists of grilled or toasted bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of spicy red pepper, tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, and/or cheese; the most popular American recipe involves basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomato. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer.

As reported by the Wikipedia, the noun “bruschetta” is from the verb in the Roman dialect “bruscare,” meaning “to roast over coals”, and it is referred to the whole dish, not just to the topping as in the American current meaning.

In the Italian tradition, when olives are taken to the local mill for pressing in November or December, the olive producers typically take some country bread with them and, when the first oil emerges from the press, they toasts a bit of the bread on a grill to sample the oil with. The next step is rubbing the toasted bread with garlic and adding a pinch of salt.

Barilla USA Executive Chef Lorenzo Boni has some interesting suggestions for a gourmet twist in the traditional bruschetta, a version that has been deeply appreciated by the participants to the Barilla Italian Cooking weekend at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Ready? Let’s go to the kitchen!

SAUTEED WILD MUSHROOM BRUSCHETTA
A recipe by Chef Lorenzo Boni
(serves 4)

INGREDIENTS

- 8 oz Wild Mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed of any fibrous ends
- 1/2 ea Medium sized sweet onion, julienne
- 3 tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 2 fl oz Academia Barilla Riviera Ligure Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 fl oz Sweet Marsala
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 ea Good quality Baguette
- Academia Barilla Pecorino Sardo, shaved
- 1 tub Truffle Spread
- Fresh thyme leaves for garnish
- Sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste

PREPARATION

Pre-heat a 12” sauté pan over med high heat till hot. Add the cleaned mushrooms and tablespoon of the butter and cook till the mushrooms are soft and are starting to release their water. Cook for 3 minutes longer and then add the sliced onions.

Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, season with a little salt and pepper and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes over the med high heat and cook till the onions start to caramelize. Do not burn.

You want to cook the mushrooms and onions till the liquid is all most evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Marsala carefully as the alcohol will catch on fire when you return it to the stove.

Reduce the Marsala by 2/3 and then add the cream. Bring to a boil and reduce to a sauce consistency, about 2 to 3 minutes. Check the seasoning and remove from the heat keeping the sauce warm till ready to use.

Cut 8 pieces of bread from the baguette about 1/2 inch thick on a 45 degree bias.

Toss the bread with a little splash of olive oil, salt and pepper. You can toast the bread in a hot oven or grill for a couple of minutes to warm the bread.

Next smear some of the Pecorino Sardo cheese on each piece of bread and sprinkle a few fresh thyme leaves on top.

Arrange 2 pieces of bread per plate and divide the mushroom sauce over the four plates. Drizzle a small amount of the olive oil over each plate and few thyme leaves and serve immediately.

Thank you Lorenzo for this easy-to-prepare gourmet recipe. We will publish more of your recipes from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Garden Chef Series soon!