When Mark Bittman teams up with Melissa McCart to investigate the world of whole wheat, we just watch in awe. It is a complex topic, full of technical words and controversial opinions. But Bittman and McCart, with the help of local grain experts at Community Grains and Dr. David Killilea, the biochemist studying commercial whole…
Category: Molini del Ponte
Pesto alla Trapanese with Busiate Pasta
Busiate and Pesto alla Trapanese are a match made in heaven. Pesto Trapanese is the Sicilian answer to the Genovese version, a recipe originally brought to Trapani’s port by Ligurian sailors on their way to the East and adapted to use ingredients easier to source on the island: almonds and tomatoes. Busiate is a traditional…
Beyond Whole Wheat Pasta
Have you ever had a pasta so flavorful that you can actually taste the sweetness of the wheat? A pasta so full of Sicilian history, culinary traditions, and aromas that it provides the next best experience to being in Sicily? Busiate di Tumminia are that powerful. Busiate di Tumminia are unique. They have a rich,…
The Gustiamo Pasta Guide
What do all three Gustiamo pasta producers have in common? 1. Grano means wheat. All of the Gustiamo pasta producers use Italian grown hard durum wheat, which is milled into semola. 2. Trafilatura means extrusion. From the longest candele to the shortest penne, all shapes are extruded with bronze dies. This method creates a porous surface that distinguishes pasta trafilata al bronzo for its…
Bakers love Molini del Ponte: Sicilian specialty grains
Ancient grains are tastier, healthier, and more interesting to work with in general. Word of the bakers in the know! And they didn’t (only) tell us, they told one of the very specialized magazines of the world of flours: Bake Mag. They call it the specialty grain Reinassance and many of our friends are part…
Sicchie d’a Munnezza Busiate Pasta
Sicchie d’a Munnezza is Napoletano dialect for garbage can. Yes, but don’t let this ugly name fool you: this combination of typical Italian holiday leftovers (especially nuts and dried fruits) is a delicious, colorful, and resourceful dish. Like many traditional Italian recipes, this one originated as a creative solution to food waste. The result is…
Pane Nero di Castelvetrano, the Recipe (with sourdough starter)
Since we started importing ancient Sicilian flours from Filippo Drago’s mill in Castelvetrano, we have watched many different bakers (from Sicily to Torino, from the Bronx to Detroit) bake their versions of Pane Nero di Castelvetrano (Black Castelvetrano Bread). We’ve learned firsthand that despite being a rigorous scientific process, bread is also an art, and…
Olive Oil Cake
Fresh and moist, with a touch of citrus. The best recipe for olive oil cake needs to follow exclusively one rule: use real, high-quality extra virgin olive oil and all its aromas will shine beautifully. We used half Il Tratturello EVOO from Molise and half Quinta Luna EVOO from Umbria for a bold, rich result…
Tumminia Flour
The Sicilian ancient grain Revolution continues here in the USA! For the first time ever, we are importing 100% Tumminia Flour. This flour is made by Filippo Drago in Castelvetrano, Sicily. This is the 4th flour to join our Molini del Ponte flour collection: Semola Rimacinata, Maiorca, and Castelvetrano Flour (the traditional mix for making Pane Nero di…
Gustiamo in Gambero Rosso
Have you heard about the party we threw in Torino? With our friend Alessandro Spoto? As Gambero Rosso says, it was a celebration of “Alessandro Spoto and Made in Italy in the Bronx!” “Alessandro Spoto, born and raised in Torino, with Sicilian origins, is a baker by passion. At 35 years old, he’s already a…