andiamotrips - campania, italy with karen phillips

This dish by Chef Balzano of Villa Assunta looked almost too good to eat... almost . I ngredients for 6 :  300ml   fresh cream , lemongrass , 500g     egg pasta For the filling: 400g   fresh   ham , 1   clove   garlic , 100g   cured   bacon (pamcetta) Directions: Prepare   the filling for   ravioli   by sautéing   the   fresh ham   or pork   on the grill   or in   pan without   adding   oil .   In this way,   you are smoking the ham that must remain raw inside.   Let cool   .   Grind   with the help of   a meat grinder   or food processor the cooled ham ,   garlic,   seasoned   bacon   and a few leaves   of   lemon grass .   Once   the filling is complete, place it inside the egg pasta,   giving it   the desired tortelli shape .   Prepare     the plate   with   cold cream   and   cooked   tortelli (which has been glazed in warm butter ,   in order to   get that perfect contrast between warm and cool) .Toss with salt flakes and   garnish with   lemongrass   and your imaginati

Franco Pepe I’ve been writing a lot about pizza over the last few months.  Writing…and eating.  Eating … and learning.  Learning about how the quality of the products used in making my pizza are very important.  From the tomatoes used for the sauce, to the cheese placed on top.  The olive oil, the basil, and everything else that makes a good topping.  The materie prime … But I also heard about how important the dough is.  How it can make or break the perfect pizza.  I heard …but I wanted to see .  I wanted to see what a pizzaiolo goes through day after day to give his  customers, friends, amici the best product possible.  My opportunity arose (no pun intended) when the Dolce & Salato Cooking School headed by Chef GiuseppeDaddio decided to schedule a three day pizza making course.  Daddio called up his good friend Franco Pepe to demonstrate to a group of pizza lovers/pizza makers how he makes his pizza dough by hand.  I stopped by  for a look up close and personal and

Chef Pisaniello It was about three weeks ago.  Three weeks ago ish .  I was enjoying a pizza and a beer in Ponteromito,  a seat at the bar of Trattovia , chatting with Chef Antonio Pisaniello .  Pisaniello had an idea.  He wanted to put on a show.  A show with that would tell his story through culture, music, wine, and of course amazing cuisine.  He wanted to ask a few chef friends to participate.  Hold this 'event' in the nearby ampitheater on a Friday evenening.   Which Friday?  "September 16th..." he replied... In three weeks??!! Wow...not a lot of time .  But then I thought, if anyone could pull this off, it would definitely be the chef with his wife Jenny Auriemma . Plans were set, the stage was set, and on Friday September 16th, Food Show ...Pisaniello's party began.  Pisaniello and his collegues/ friends  Chefs  Mauro Elli  from Cantuccio di Albavilla (Co),  Paolo Barrale from Marennà di Sorbo Serpico (Av),  Raffaele Vitale with Giocchino Orland

The perfect way to get to know each other.  That is what I believed as Chef Mirko Balzano, Laura Guarino   and I enjoyed a glass of Aglianico (frizzante, due to fermentation in the bottle) by Ciro Picariello .  The perfect way to begin an afternoon in Mirabella Eclano.. overlooking Aglianico and Fiano grape vines, olive orchards, in the garden of  Guarino's renovated farmhouse which her family has called Villa Assunta for nearly 4 years. A place deep in the heart of Irpinia.     A team who believe in the territory, believe in its people, and believe in its products. A young chef.  A young entrepreneur.  A young restaurant. Villa Assunta... Mesali Guide... page 64 .  A place that maybe I had seen before.  Maybe I had imagined a place just like this.  In a dream of settling down in the country.    I followed Chef Balzano into the kitchen for a look around and watch as the apperitivos were being prepared.     Right away I noticed how important attention to detail and presenta

Gino Sorbillo and Ernesto Iaccarino My craving to discover more about my Campania through its food and prodotti tipic i gave me a craving for…pizza.  And what better way to satisfy those cravings than a trip back to St Agata sui Due Golfi and back to Don Alfonso 1890 .  A typical Saturday afternoon became not so typical when pizza maker Gino Sorbillo dropped by to make a few pizzas.  He brought a few friends. They brought some amazing products. But more importantly, Sorbillo took the time to explain what he was putting on his gourmet pizzas …the flavors, the textures, the origins.  Products such as    mozzarella di bufala, olive Nocellara, Fagioline Paesanelle, and dried San Marzano tomatoes.  I was more than curious to try the famous  cipolla ramata di Montoro...sweet onions grown in Montoro in the province of Avellino.  Then there were tomatoes from Sorrento, fiordilatte, tomaotoes from Corbara.  The Cilento region presented itself with a beautiful bread made from figs.  There w

I had the chance to see Chef Barrale of Marennà prepare this fantastic first course during our cooking lesson last month. Ingredients for 4 For the filling :  2 Neapolitan eggplants, 300 g of San Marzano Tomatoes, 100 g fiordilatte, 20 gr of grated parmigiano, basil, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil For the egg pasta: 150 g flour (00), 150 g ground semolina, 9 egg yolks Directions: For the pasta:   Mix the flour, semolina and egg yolks in a bowl.  Let rest to the side. For the filling:   Peel the eggplant and cut into cubes.  Sprinkle with a little salt in order to get rid of the excess water. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the eggplant.  Place the fried cubes on a paper towel to drain. Peel and cut the tomatoes.  Eliminate the seeds.  Brown garlic clove in a pan with a little oil, then add the tomatoes and a few leaves of basil.  Let the sauce thicken, then place to the side.  Cut the fiordilatte into cubes, squeezing them in order to get rid of the excess milk that you nee