Wednesday 6 January 2016

Bertolli with Butter - an Evening with Gennaro Contaldo

I have seen Gennaro Contaldo many times on television on his own or with one of his friends Antonio Carluccio or Jamie Oliver but let me tell you meeting him in person is a great experience. The man is a true gentleman, self effacing with a great sense of humour!

I had the pleasure of meeting Gennaro at an event held at Food at 52 on behalf of Bertolli with butter - an ingredient that gives you the best of both world in the cooking department.  Adding olive oil to butter gives a higher smoking point i.e. the food will be able to be cooked at a higher temperature before smoking and burning.

As usual at any event held at Food at 52 there are plenty of lovely plates and dishes over flowing with fresh and tantalising ingredients.
I have made pasta quite a few times at events and cookery schools but I didn't really get excited or enjoy the experience.  Working with Gennaro was a pleasure, hearing him describe the process of starting with one egg and 100gm of '00' grade pasta flour per person (we made a double dose each for the practice) and turning it into the simplest and purest form of food heaven, Italian style!
We began rolling out our pasta dough and for the first time I really enjoyed the experience, I really 'got it'!  Gennaro said my long piece of pasta was excellent!
We then stood back and watched the pasta master create loads of different shapes ready for the simplest sauces!
A spinach and ricotta ravioli with a butter an mint sauce. To serve 4 uses 100gm Bertolli with Butter ....
or you could use the same mixture to make Tortelloni with Butter and Mint sauce ...

A plate piled high with a selection of wild mushrooms ready to make ......
..... Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms - to serve 4 only uses 50gm of Bertolli with Butter.

Farfalle with peas and mint - to serve 4 uses only 50gm of Bertolli with Butter.
And finally a simple penne shape with Bertolli with Butter and freshly grated parmesan cheese - the simplest essence of Italian pasta you can make!
Gennaro says there are four main points to simple, delicious, good and easy pasta.

* It's all in the water,
* Pay attention to the instructions and timer,
*Al dente is 'numero uno'
* There is a perfect pasta shape for each dish or sauce.

I shall be following these tips and look forward to enjoying fresh pasta.  We were sent home with a pasta maker and some Bertolli with Butter. There is no need to open a jar of sauce when you can use Bertolli with Butter for the tastiest and easiest sauces!
I was a guest of Bertolli and was not required to write a positive review.  All photos and opinions are my own.

10 comments:

  1. Wow it sounds like you had a fantastic evening! Little jealous you got to meet Gennaro he doesn't come across as really lovely on TV too :-)

    I haven't made fresh pasta in a while. We are making more bread from scratch this year so seems only right we should make more fresh pasta too! Thanks for inspiring me to get back at it!

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    1. I know right, you always think it is a faff to make fresh pasta but if you are organised it really isn't and it is sooooo good.

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  2. What a lovely event Sadly I missed it but looks like you learnt alot from this amazing chef.

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    1. It was fun, hope we can go to another one together soon.

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  3. Ah I met Gennaro at The Big Festival 4 years ago when I my eldest was small. She was talking her baby chatter at someone behind me and I turned around and it was Gennaro. He's lovely. The pasta looks amazing, what an experience. x

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    1. I really enjoyed the session and Gennaro was a real gentleman

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  4. I have never made my own pasta so this looks like it was really fun and Gennaro is great! Love his books. Learning from a proper master of pasta must have been brilliant,

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    1. I really 'got it' this time - He really knows his pasta!!

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  5. Oh my, that looks good. Another fun event and what delicious food - I'm feeling like it must be supper time.

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    1. Home made pasta is so much better than the packets of dried pasta.

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