Below is a recent story about the increasing price of pasta. Why buy it when you can make it at home?! While I was in Italy last summer, I learned to make this Italian and North American staple at Umberto Menghi's Cooking school, Villa Delia in Tuscany. It's easy, it's fun and surprisingly fast to make. You do need a pasta machine, but you can pick one up quite inexpensively. Click here for more photos of my experience. I've also posted two recipes below. Thank you Andrew Gerus for taking such great notes in class!
Italy's pasta makers have been accused of forming an illegal cartel to inflate the price of the county's favourite food. The price of spaghetti and other pasta has risen by more than 50 percent in the past two years, despite the cost of durham wheat declining because of the economic crisis.
Prosecutors suspect five companies -- Amato, Barilla, De Cecco , Divella and Garofalo of having formed a cartel to push up prices and have started an inquiry. The average Italian eats more than 25 kilograms of pasta a year, but rising prices have forced some families to cut back.
Between May 2006, and May 2008, pasta prices jumped by 51.8 per cent, according to the antitrust authority. Pasta producers have justified the increase on the grounds that their costs were driven up by higher fuel prices.
Nick Squires, The Daily Telegraph
Pasta
makes enough for 6 people
300g flour all purpose (Imported Italian "00" flour is best)
3 eggs
pinch of salt
- make a well, add the eggsbegin incorporating the flour from the edges
- don’t worry if it’s lumpy as they will break apart when you work itonce you have a paste
- mix it with a pastry knife and the use your fingerswhile working it
- if it gets sticky add a touch more flour
- once it's in a nice ball, cover it with a damp cloth and let rest for 30 minutes cut it into 3 pieces
- spread it out with your fingers to get it started
- on the number 1 setting of your pasta maker, run through 3 times
- on all the other numbers, pass dough through just once
- once you have reached number 5, you can use this pasta for anything.
- To cook, place in salted boiling water
- when it floats to the top it is done
Stuffed pasta takes longer to cook as they are doubled
Tomato Sauce
3 kilos of fresh tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh sage
1 bunch of fresh basil
12 cloves of garlic
1 pinch of coarse sea salt and pepper
2 pepperconcini
- Add all ingredients to a pot
- Turn to high heat and let cook down, stirring regularly
- After 20 mins, the sauce should be soft and chunky
- Allow to cool a few minutes and run through the food mill
- When serving, garnish with good, fruity, extra virgin olive oil.
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I'd like to share some photos of my trip to Italy this past summer. I spent three weeks eating my way from New York to Rome, Tuscany, Siena and back to Rome. You can read more about it in the current issue of Montecristo Magazine.
This first posting is on Rome. I'll post photos from the rest of my trip in the coming days.
I hope some of these images will warm you on a dreary winter day. Click here to see my album.
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