I have some exciting news! I recently partnered with Barilla to be one of their Blogger Ambassadors; what this means is I will be attending a number of events around the city sponsored by them in their Summer of Italy – a six week celebration of authentic Italian food and culture, finishing with the first-ever stateside Casa Barilla, which will be held in Central Park – sharing my experiences with my readers (that’s you!), and alerting you to events that you can attend as well. I’m really excited about this – Barilla is definitely the main pasta choice in my household. I love the variety of shapes; recently I’ve been really into the ditalini (tiny tubes that cook very quickly, and are great for soup, pasta salads or quick sauces like I make with cream cheese), and piccolini (the wheel shape), which I just think is fun.
As such, the first event I attended: Barilla Spaghettata. Sounds like frittata, right? Well, as soon as I walked in, I was handed a glass of prosecco. It was a hot summer day – last Thursday – so I quickly drank a little too much, haha.
Menus at each of our seats to let us know what was coming.
A bright summer salad with slivers of parm and asparagus; nice and bright.
Then we were ushered into the kitchen to listen to Barilla’s Executive Chef, Lorenzo Boni. First, he explained that spaghettata could be likened to the American barbecue/grill out; an informal gathering of people to eat, socialize, and just hang out. I like that: a spaghetti lunch just for fun. I used to throw pasta dinners with my friends at my mom’s house when I was in my early 20s/late teens, but it got to be a lot of trouble and too little appreciation… I should start that up again! (But not at my mom’s house.)
He also led us through making the next course: pistachio herb pesto. Here are the ingredients laid out for us.
I mostly let everyone else get in there and cook, since I like to just observe. Here’s Blondie watching Nicole (whose blog name I didn’t catch, sorry!) pour the pesto over the pasta.
They took turns tossing the pasta – first with the pesto, then with chopped fresh tomatoes.
I’m not sure whose bowl wound up at our table, because the transition from the kitchen back to our tables was a bit confusing (there were a few big tables and a few small tables, and I didn’t pay attention to which bowl was ‘ours’), but I accidentally served myself too much. It was really good though – nice and fresh, bright flavors without overwhelming. I’m definitely one of those people who tends to eat less pasta in the summer, because I tend towards heavy sauces and that makes me think of pasta as a heavy dish… but this really changed my mind. I’d totally make this myself – lovely flavors that were just enhanced by the hot pasta. I might make it a touch saltier though, but that’s probably because I love salty things.
Our other pasta course, spaghetti with sausage and leeks, I was worried might be too heavy as well. It looked and felt very creamy in my mouth, but surprisingly, it wasn’t very heavy either. The leeks were super flavorful, and the sausage added a nice meatiness to it. I would actually also like to make this soon – I just received leeks in my CSA, so I may make this in the next few days…
And of course, both pastas were cooked perfectly al dente… I love pasta with a bite, though I know some people prefer it with less of one 😉
And too soon, it was time for dessert: a bowl of berries was placed in front of us. Had I not looked at the menu, I might have just started eating the berries alone.
Since I had, I knew to wait for the marsala zabaione promised by the menu. Zabaione (French: sabayon) is basically a whipped custard, very light and airy, flavored with different things though commonly with marsala. I asked the person serving me about it, and I guess he got distracted and filled my bowl to brimming with the super airy custard… unfortunately, I think someone was a little heavy handed with marsala, so it was a little too wine-y for me. It was incredibly fluffy though, I was somewhat surprised until I remembered that he’d said they used a Kitchenaid to whip it, so it wasn’t done by hand – that would kill your upper arms! Or give you a really nice workout, anyway 🙂
Lunch was delicious, and I happily made my way out into the hot day carting the goodies bestowed upon me.
I’m super excited to share my experience in the upcoming weeks with you. Aside from enjoying Barilla at home, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about the charity tied in with their Summer of Italy. Food Bank of New York – an organization I’ve worked briefly with in the past, and I wholeheartedly support their efforts; afterall, as food lovers and/or bloggers, we have access to such a wealth of foods, it’s not right that anyone should go hungry – will be the main beneficiary of Barilla’s efforts.
For example, the next event, A Meal for a Meal, involves not just distributing meal kits for YOU to enjoy, but for every meal kit distributed, $1 will be donated to the Food Bank of New York. $1 feeds FIVE people. And it’s not even YOUR dollar! Check the link for details – I’ll be reminding you of this event when the date comes closer!
The next event I’ll be attending is that one, and also cooking classes at Eataly sponsored by Barilla! The events seem to mostly be filled up right now, but click here to be put on the waiting list (the classes are listed with “Barilla” in the name). The menus sound yummy, and I’m looking forward to learning more from Chef Lorenzo.
For full details of all the events available, check out the official Summer of Italy page. It has all the details about every event.
Ooh! I almost forgot: stay tuned here because I will be giving away TWO PAIRS OF VIP TICKETS TO ANDREA BOCELLI’S CONCERT IN CENTRAL PARK ON SEPTEMBER 15th. Yup, that’s right: four tickets, two people will win those before the Summer of Italy finishes… so you’re going to want to stick around for that, aren’t you? 🙂
I hope you all enjoy reading about my experience as a Blogger Ambassador as much as I anticipate I will enjoy being one.
Salut!
PS Let me know if you want recipes for either of the pasta dishes!
Please note that I attended this event courtesy of Barilla. I want to thank them for their hospitality, and while I am obligated to post about this event and future Summer of Italy events, I assure you that I will continue to uphold my responsibility to my readers to always be honest and forthright about what I eat and what I like or don’t like.
Kathie says
I’d love the recipe for the spaghetti with sausage and leeks! Thanks!
Feisty Foodie says
Absolutely!
Chef Lorenzo Boni’s Barilla Thick Spaghetti With Sausage & Leeks
Ingredients:
1 pound Barilla Thick Spaghetti
2 tablespoons Academia Barilla 100% Italiano extra virgin olive oil
1/3 pound Italian sausage, mild with no fennel
1/3 cup white wine
4 leeks, medium sized, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmagiano Reggiano cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, packed
To taste sea salt
To taste black pepper
Directions:
Skin and crumble the sausage, and cook with olive oil over high heat until brown
Deglaze with wine and reduce well.
Add leeks, lower the heat and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, but drain three minutes prior to the end time. Reserve some cooking liquid.
Add pasta to the sauce, add cooking water and toss over high heat until pasta is cooked and sauce thickens.
Remove from fire and stir in butter, cheese and parsley before serving.
ENJOY!!! I really liked this dish a lot, and typing that out makes me want to make it right now 🙂
Kathie says
Thank you, it sounds great!
T.C. says
Barilla has awesome spaghetti!! Forget the foil or plastic baggie. I’ll eat it all dignified on a plate.
That pesto pasta with fresh tomatoes looks good.
Nice. Bocelli Giveaway!
Feisty Foodie says
Come November, you’ll get your spaghetti in tin foil and love it! Hehehe.
T.C. says
Can’t wait. 😉
I, too, might have to eat it in a movie theatre.
Hungry says
My summer pasta this year has been plainly boiled Barilla pasta with truffle salt, olive oil, and poached egg on top.
Feisty Foodie says
Yum! Isn’t it hot standing over boiling water to poach the egg? 😛
Hungry says
Nope b/c the water is at a low temp after boiling so it isn’t creating too much steam.
Feisty Foodie says
I clearly can’t poach eggs very well, ha.
Winedivas2 says
I was fortunate enough to attend the class last week and it was awesome. This was the coastal seafood pasta class. We made 3 different recipes and all were great. I would love to have the pistachio pesto recipe if you don’t mind sharing.
Thanks,
Feisty Foodie says
That sounds awesome – I will be attending an upcoming class and I’m really looking forward to it! Here is the recipe:
Chef Lorenzo Boni’s Barilla Spaghetti Rigati with Ripe Heirloom Tomatoes and Pistachio Aromatic Herb Pesto
Ingredients:
1 box Barilla spaghetti rigati
1 pound heirloom tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup Academia Barilla Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To taste, sea salt
To taste, freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Romano cheese
4 tablespoons pistachios
10 leaves fresh basil
10 leaves fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, packed
4 leaves fresh sage
Directions:
Season tomatoes with salt and black pepper, drain in a colander for one hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the pesto: process the garlic, cheese, nuts and herbs in a blender. Add the olive oil slowly while processing.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Cook the thin spaghetti according to the package directions.
Drain and toss with the tomatoes and pesto mixture before serving.
Enjoy – let me know how you like it if you make it. The pistachios really gave it a different body than regular pesto, and I was surprised by the other herbs as I generally make a traditional basil/cheese/pine nuts/oil pesto! 🙂