I was lucky enough to be asked to join in and become one of the 30 members to be part of the new Casa Barilla community and how could I say no?!
I’ve been using Barilla pastas for awhile now and when I saw the program the team at Casa Barilla had put together for the upcoming twelve weeks, I was super intrigued. Things like mushroom foraging, cheese and pasta making, an Italian culture night and the like were things I’d definitely be keen to participate in.
Come the night of the welcome event, we were greeted with a graze board and some wine. People were given tags to wear, one being the name of a pasta and the other, a sauce whereby they had to find their matching pair.
When it came time to sit down and enjoy a meal together there were goodie bags on each chair containing pastas, an apron, notebook, pasta sauces, tea towel, and cookies.
The first dish we were served was a rigatoni with basil and zucchini pesto, potatoes and green beans. I loved the pesto, it was such a great sauce and the addition of the potatoes were quite nice too as I’ve never had a pasta dish with potatoes in it before (not including gnocchi). They added a really nice touch to the dish, I think I’ll have to try this in the very near future!
The second dish was the spaghettoni, which had king prawns, tomato, lemon zest and squid ink pangrattato. This dish was absolutely incredible! I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did but it was such a hit that Chef Marcello posted the recipe for it on the Facebook group by demand.
Third, we had the casarecce, which had slow cooked pork neck, Pecorino Romano and eschalot braised in balsamic vinegar. Another super tasty dish! The pork was juicy and flavourful, it was hard to stop eating but I needed room for dessert.
The first dessert we had was a Panna Cotta with mandarins and a crumb. It was divine! I honestly wanted to keep eating more but I was so full.
The last bit of dessert was a sorbet. Such a good end to the night as it was creamy and refreshing at the same time.
The welcome event was such a great night and I’m looking forward to seeing what the other events will be show casing.
Thank you to Barilla and the team for having me on board this epic food journey!
xX Frankiie
Frankiies Hungry Tummy 