Pasta & Rice
Pasta and Rice are Italian comfort food... the glory of Italian cooking... the very foundation of Italian cuisine.
It's not uncommon for a group of "amici" to come home late at night famished and throw together a "spaghettata" -- something simple, a quick plate of pasta " Aglio & Olio" or "Burro & Parmigiano".
If the quality of the pasta is good, the dish can be sublime. Our mantra is always buy the best ingredients you can find and combine them simply. Gustiamo represents only artisanal pasta makers, their pasta is made with higher quality wheat. Each pasta shape is extruded through bronze dies. This may not seem important, but it is. It gives the pasta a rough texture that allows the sauce to cling to it. Commercial pasta is manufactured with teflon dies. The result is a slippery surface. Gustiamo pasta is dried slowly, naturally. Industrial pasta is not. The flavor of artisanal pasta is subtle and aromatic, once you recognize the difference, you will not settle for a lesser quality.
Making pasta is easy, but we'll offer our two cents worth of advice: cook pasta in lots of water, bring the water to a rolling boil, then add salt and pasta at the same time. Never OVERCOOK pasta (follow direction on your pasta package). Never OVERDRAIN pasta, it should be moist to properly combine with sauce. Never OVERSAUCE... you are not serving soup. Cooked pasta needs to be served immediately... it waits for no one.
Rice is generally grown in the North of Italy where the cold and humidity create the ideal micro-climate for rice cultivation. Italian rice is for the most part short grain. It has a stubby oval form and is much harder than long grain rice. Its center is rich in starch which gives Italian rice its characteristic creamy consistency. This, coupled with the technique used to polish the rice kernels and the very nature of the soil on which the rice is grown, all contributes to making Italian rice unique.
There are two basic types of Italian rice dishes. One is eaten with a spoon and called "minestra", the other is eaten with a fork and called "risotto". The term "minestra" often refer to soup which may or may not contain rice. "Risotto" is a rice dish that has completely absorbed its liquid.
Italian rice comes in several classifications based on grain length. Superfino, which includes Vialone Nano and Carnaroli is used to make "risotto".
Basic procedure for making "risotto" involves sweating minced onions in butter and olive oil; the rice is added to this mixture and each grain is coated in the fat. Hot liquid is then introduced in small quantities (1/3 or 1/4 cup) and stirred. When the rice has completely absorbed the cooking liquid more liquid is added. Small quantities of hot liquid and constant stirring are key.
Italian Black rice is a medium grain rice with a nutty flavor and a dense and chewy texture. It can be served as a side dish, hot or cold in salads and "risotto". The Red rice is a long grain rice and more at home steamed or boiled.
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