Dear Pasta Lover! Buon giorno from beautiful Verona in North East Italy! I hope you are all staying safe and well. For those of you in the US, I hope you had a great 4th July! |
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I'm happy to say there's not much to write about the Covid-19 situation here this week. Yes, the number of new cases has risen a bit because of the Delta variant but compared to other countries the numbers are low. Italy had just 8.7 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 7 days, whilst the UK registered 253, Spain 110, Russia 107 and US 28. Of course, we don't want to get complacent but it's good to feel more relaxed about meeting family and friends and travelling in Italy and Europe! |
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Those of you who read my newsletter last week will recall that we spent a weekend in Umbria recently. It was unforgettable for several reasons. |
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flowering lentil and wildflower fields Castellucio di Norcia |
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Firstly, it was my first trip away from home since last October when we went to Sicily, Calabria and Le Marche! Secondly, I got to see the organic lentil fields in flower at Castelluccio di Norcia. Last week, I posted other photos of this stunning natural display of wildflowers on a mountain plateau 1,400 mts above sea level. Did you see them? Going there at this time of year had been on my bucket list for a while! |
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Also on my bucket list was a visit to the ancient Sabine city of Norcia, known as Nursia in English and to the ancient Romans. The Sabines were an Italic people that lived in the central Apennine mountains. Some of them were among the first inhabitants of Rome, after it was founded. Others remained a mountain tribal state that fought the Romans for independence. Eventually they were conquered and became assimilated into the Roman Republic. |
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Walls of the old city, Norcia |
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Norcia has an incredible historical and artistic heritage. In fact, despite having been destroyed or damaged by earthquakes (including one in 2016), it is considered one of the most important art cities in Umbria. Norcia became an important town for the Romans and later the Catholic Church. It is the birthplace of St Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order. The town is full of ancient historical buildings, one of the most notable of which was the medieval Basilica of St Benedict. Sadly, this was severely damaged in the 2016 earthquake and is still awaiting reconstruction! |
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The remains of the basilica di St. Benedict, Norcia |
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Apart from its historical value, Norcia is famous for its cuisine and locally produced food products! The most well-known of the latter are the pork and wild boar sausages, prosciutto and other salumi made by a number of the city's 'norcineria'. A norcineria is a butcher that specializes in preparing, curing and selling pork products. You can find these 'shops' all over Italy, but as you may imagine the name originates from Norcia. The most famous of these pork products is the prosciutto di Norcia the production of which dates back to Roman times! |
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While in the area we visited a 'norcineria' within a pig farm. We got to see the pigs who live outside and were happily wallowing in mud! |
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Piggies wallowing in the mud (it was a hot day!) |
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Then we tried some of the prosciutto before buying it as well as some guanciale, salami and Norcia sausages. These sausages are also much appreciated by Italians and are one of the main ingredients in a well-known local pasta recipe called pasta alla Norcina! Have you ever tried it? I have the recipe on the Pasta Project and it's really been a hit with many blog visitors. (see the link below!) |
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My goodies from the Norciniera |
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Bruschetta, frittata, and lamb with truffle |
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Another food that Norcia is famous for is the local black truffles! Actually, there are 2 types of black truffles found in the area. The 'Nero di Norcia' is considered the most precious black truffle in the world, from both an economic and culinary point of view. Needless to say, it's quite expensive. In US, you can pay $250 for 50g (less than 2 ozs)! Unluckily (or luckily for our wallets) this truffle isn't in season now. |
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What we had a ton of is the 'summer' truffle. Italians call it 'scorzone'. This truffle has a fruitier and more delicate flavour than real 'black truffles'. It can also be found on the ground, rather than underground! In Norcia they put it on everything! I don't think I've ever eaten as many truffle dishes as during that weekend. We had truffle on bruschetta, eggs, potatoes, lamb and pasta!! So good! |
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We didn't buy any truffles to bring home. What we did get was some wonderful artisan specialty beer made by the Benedictine monks! We went to the monastery to buy it! There are 2 types of Nursia beer. The Bionda is a very creamy, fresh beer, which I loved and which we bought for home. Then there's a darker beer which I didn't try as I'm not a fan of dark beers. I'm not even a big beer drinker but I'll be very sad once we finish our supply. It's so good! |
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Sadly, both the Monastery and the brewery were also damaged in the 2016 earthquake. But, they are rebuilding and the proceeds from the beer sales go towards that project. However, the availability of Nursia beer is limited until they finish the new monastery and are able to build an earthquake-resistant brewery. Currently, the monks are brewing using the facilities of a nearby brewery. I don't know if it's currently possible, but Nursia beer was available to buy online in both US and some European countries. Check out their website for more info. |
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PASTA ALLA NORCINA: SAUSAGE PASTA FROM UMBRIA |
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Click On The Image for The Recipe |
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Second cookbook just published! |
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I'm excited to finally be able to tell you that the second volume of my Traditional Seasonal Pasta Recipes is now on sale as a pdf or hard copy! It took longer than we planned because of Covid related delays but luckily cookbooks are evergreen and never go out of fashion! |
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Have you read the post I wrote about organic pasta maker's Girolomoni who I visited last year? They're located in Le Marche and make fabulous pasta with 100% organic Italian grains. US readers might be interested to learn that you can buy this pasta from Stonewall Kitchen. They use the brand name Montebello but it's the same company. Check out my post to learn more. And if you're interested in ordering some of this pasta below is a link to Stonewall kitchen. |
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Check out my new shop page for online pasta courses and other pasta related products! |
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Without the thousands of blog visitors, Facebook followers and newsletter subscribers who love pasta as much as I do, The Pasta Project wouldn't be the success it is today! So, I'd like to take this opportunity to send you a heartfelt thank you for being a Pasta Project subscriber! All the best from Verona, Italy |
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Do make sure to add The Pasta Project to your contact list so that new e-books and newsletters won't get sent to your spam folder |
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