Editor’s Choice: The Scrumptious Pantry

Last week, the editors at Fancy Food took a trip to Italy.

Ha — we wish! But it sure felt like we had flown to the boot-shaped European country when we tasted a variety of handcrafted products from The Scrumptious Pantry (www.scrumptiouspantry.com).

The Scrumptious Pantry represents 21 gourmet food items from Italian regions such as Tuscany and Piemonte. Founder Lee Greene sources all the company’s products from family farms and artisan producers. What’s more, she gives the farmers the spotlight on the products’ packaging, which displays photos of the producers to add a personal touch to the food.

Rob Benes, public relations representative for The Scrumptious Pantry, hosted a tasting for us and shared everything from Durham Wheat Rigatoni to a fantastic Sun-dried Tomato Spread. But my favorite product by far was the Balsamic Dressing Sauce, which features a great photo of an artisan named Guido.

For more than 150 years, Guido’s family has been producing this sauce with pride at the Acetaia Paltrinieri in the Emilia-Romagna region. A younger version of the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (which is aged for at least 12 years), the Balsamic Dressing Sauce is bottled after four years of aging.

I found the sauce to be a surprising blend of sweet, tart and savory. Because it contains no vinegar, it was delicate and full of complexity, and it had a cool, smooth finish that could add character to a number of foods and dishes. Rob told us the sauce would be perfect drizzled over salads, vegetables and meats, but it could also be a fantastic touch to fresh strawberries. I’d be eager to try it on all of these suggestions. So, retailers: Keep this product in mind when your customers are searching for something special!

-Ashley

Editor's Choice: Baronia

I’ve never quite understood the pasta snobs out there in the culinary world. Maybe it’s because the blood running through my veins is exactly zero-percent Italian. But honestly, pasta is pasta…right?

I can hear them now. “WRONG!” they shout as their faces grow as red as a hot pot of Sunday gravy. Settle down, macaroni aficionados and fusilli connoisseurs! I finally get it! There is a distinct difference when you’re cooking good pasta.

When we received a package full of different varieties of Baronia Italian pasta, I took home the organic whole-wheat penne rigate for some experimentation. Relax, everyone; I wasn’t about to douse those precious tubes with an inferior jar of Prego. I was on a mission to make a meal with fresh ingredients to complement the authentic flavors of the pasta.

Luckily, my garden has been blessed with an overabundance of tomatoes this summer. Penne alla Vodka was definitely in order. To begin, I heated some olive oil in a pan and added chopped garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. I then removed the pan from the heat and added the vodka (note: cook with the stuff you would drink, aka, the good stuff). Returning the pan to the flame, I tossed in diced tomatoes, coarse salt and fresh black pepper. When my pasta was done cooking (I like mine al dente, so I boiled it for about 13 minutes), I drained it and added it to the pan. Finally, I poured in heavy cream and stirred until all the pasta was coated. I finished off the dish with freshly torn basil from my garden and some shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The first word that comes to mind when I tasted this dish was “robust.” The pasta’s pure earthiness combined with the sun-soaked flavor of the tomatoes was divine. And the extra kick from the red pepper flakes and vodka added a bite that balanced well with the mild cheese and cool basil.

This recipe is surprisingly foolproof and unsurprisingly delicious, so tout it away to your customers when you are promoting a high-quality pasta such as Baronia. And most importantly, let them know that it just won’t taste the same with a box of mediocre grocery-store pasta.

Visit www.pastabaronia.it to see more of Baronia’s offerings.

-Ashley