A Taste of Travel

Cooking with Colavita

Puglia, italy

Can you believe it’s October already? I can’t. We’ve survived lockdown and all the initial madness of the unraveling reality of COVID-19 and yet, here we are. After all this time, still living with restrictions of some kind around the world.

One of the most difficult things I had to face when the virus arrived was losing the ability to travel. Initially, it was the disappointment of cancelling all my trips and mourning my adventures but then came the reality of being unable to see my family on the other side of the world, which is now even harder than it was back in April. It’s pretty clear to me that our world can’t exist as we love it, without our ability to travel.

We had never been more connected, more intertwined and we’d never been more excited about discovering each other's cultures and exploring each other's countries. In a world where it’s clear that we don’t always understand each other, travel is the silver lining that proves we want to try. Now more than ever people are desperate for some kind of escape but it’s never been harder.

In September we were so fortunate to go on a miraculous 14-day adventure through Puglia, Italy. Miraculous because after the borders re-opened throughout Europe, there was this very small window where traveling without restrictions was quite easy. I think I hoped that from that point, things would only start to get better...but as quarantine restrictions arrived and borders closed again, we were so lucky to make this happen, and safely.

Before our Italian escape, I was so happy to meet Elana from Colavita in the USA. I had this amazing opportunity to work with Colavita throughout my trip by taking over their Instagram account and bringing both their followers and mine, a little bit of Italy. We shared our experience of the local food, beautiful places, and cities as well as basically anything and everything that fed our souls through our eyes (and stomachs).

A daily dose of beauty to remind anyone watching and now reading, that there is so much to be enjoyed out there in this world and one day when this is over, you will be able to adventure and explore again.

So, what should we do whilst we wait?

How do we get through it?

During lockdown, we decided to mark each cancelled adventure with dinner and drinks in honour of the country we should’ve been in. Although this sounds slightly depressing it turned out to be super fun and ended up being some of the most memorable nights we had during lockdown.

So today, I bring to you an Apulian feast. A three-course meal to cook at home in celebration of missed adventures, stay at home orders, and a ridiculous 2020!

Between myself and Colavita, we hope to inspire you to try something new by setting aside an evening to pretend like you’re in Italy. One day when you make that adventure to Puglia you will try all these fabulous dishes in real life and realise – everything tastes better in Italy! Haha

Our recipes below will serve two people. Before we start cooking, let’s start with the essentials. Hello Aperol Spritz!

The Aperol Spritz

What you need
- Prosecco (Sparkling wine)
- Aperol
- Soda Water (plain sparkling water)
- Ice
- 1 x Orange

What I love about the Aperol spritz besides their deliciousness, is how easy and quick they are to make.

What you should do (for each drink)
- Fill your glass with ice.
Add the following
- 1 shot Aperol
- 1 shot Soda Water (Sparkling water)
- 2 shots Prosecco
- Stir
- Add your sliced orange.

Cheers!

To Start

Fresh Burrata and Tomato Salad

I had no idea that burrata originated from Puglia until I got there. Naturally, this was an exciting discovery considering I LOVE cheese. Burrata is a type of cheese made from Mozzarella AND cream which is the secret and essential ingredient that makes this cheese one of the most melt in your mouth amazing cheeses out there.

Most supermarkets sell burrata and it’s all delicious. If you are fortunate enough to live near an Italian deli, go there for your burrata.

What you need
- Colavita Olive Oil
- 1 x Burrata
- 4 x Tomatoes (Different types if possible)
- Dried oregano
- Fresh Basil
- Salt

What you should do
- Roughly cut the tomatoes and place in a bowl to serve

- Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes

- Add a tsp of dried oregano and some salt according to taste
Mix through!

- Place the whole burrata in the middle of your dish and drizzle with a little more olive oil (it’s too good not to)

- Add some fresh basil

Easy!

Main course

pancetta, ricotta and tomato orecchiette pasta

It didn’t take me long to realise that orecchiette is an Apulian pasta. I began to notice it on every single menu, everywhere I went. This specific type of pasta is made with only semolina flour and water. So simple! We did an amazing Airbnb experience on our adventure where we learnt how to make orecchiette pasta with an Italian family and wow, it’s a lot of work. Orecchiette means ‘small ear’ and so each piece of pasta is pushed into a tiny ear shape by hand. It was such a fun experience that only increased my respect for all chefs and nonnas.

Before we left Puglia we purchased some store bought orecchiette pasta so we could make it at home. If you can’t find it in your local supermarket, or online easily then you could use penne. You want to use a pasta that traps the sauce the same way the orecchiette does.

I’m usually a little sensitive to eating too much pasta but because it’s made with semolina and water, I really found this to be a much lighter pasta to enjoy.

The recipe below is our recreation of the most delicious pasta we had on our holiday. Orecchiette pasta with ricotta, tomato and pancetta. Our recipe could technically serve 4 people, but if you’re like us it’ll only serve 2…(and one person will have some leftovers for the next day)

What you need
- 400g orecchiette pasta (or penne)
- Colavita olive oil
- 1 cup x pancetta (cubed)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 cup ricotta
- 1 1/4 cup of Colavita crushed tomatoes
- Dried oregano
- 1/4 cup of red wine
- 20g parmesan to serve
- Salt & pepper

What you should do
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta per instruction on the pack. We always like to take the pasta off 2 minutes early al dente style.

- Start with adding the pancetta to a frying pan. We also like to add just a dash of olive oil as the pancetta will produce it’s own oil. After a few minutes add in the oregano and garlic.

- Add the red wine and reduce for 1 minute.

- Add the Colavita crushed tomatoes and add 1/3 cup of boiling water from the pot of cooking pasta - do not use normal water. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes until it has reduced and then take off the heat. Add some salt and pepper.

- Stir in the ricotta and parmesan until it’s completely mixed through. Put the sauce back on heat and add 2 tablespoons more of pasta water until the sauce has thickened again.

- Drain your orecchiette and add it to your sauce!

- Mix the pasta and sauce together making sure the sauce really gets into the shells.

- To serve add some more ricotta, pepper and some basil leaves!

- Drizzle with olive oil

ENJOY

dessert

panna cotta leccese

It’s not a night in 2020 without dessert. Am I right?

I’m not usually a big milk fan, especially in desserts so when I was in Nardo having dinner at a beautiful little restaurant in the old town, I noticed something interesting on the menu. It was called ‘Panna cotta Leccese’ and I noticed it said something about almonds. When I asked our host he told us that panna cotta Leccese is a traditional way of having panna cotta in Puglia. Instead of cows milk, they use almond milk! It was a first for me discovering an Italian dessert that was traditionally dairy-free. I had to have it, and I loved it.

I started to notice ‘Leccese’ being a word used frequently on menus and started to discover their love of almonds. Lecce is, of course, a beautiful baroque old town in the heart of Puglia. Caffe Leccese became my favourite drink in the morning! Ice, espresso, and almond milk syrup. Heaven!

I wanted to include it in our feast for many reasons. I love that it’s traditional, it’s different from normal, it’s easy to make and it’s delicious! We decided to get a little creative and add some peaches and mint to our Panna cottas. We went with using peaches, as on our trip we discovered they were an important staple in Puglia. We had peaches almost every single day and thought this would be a nice touch for our simple panna cotta Leccese.

What you need
- 400ml (13.5oz) of a thick almond milk (If you don’t like almond milk or you’re allergic to nuts then substitute with canned coconut milk YUM) please note - almond milk that is predominantly rice milk won’t set as well.
- 1 1/4 tsp gelatin
- 1/3 maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 x Peaches
- 1 sprig of mint
- 4 ramekins to serve

What you should do
- In a small saucepan whisk 1 cup of the almond milk with the gelatin.
Wait for the gelatin to ‘bloom’ over 5-6 minutes.

- Add in the vanilla extract and gently heat over a low heat. Do not boil the mixture! Be very careful.

- Once the gelatin has completely dissolved, remove from the heat, add the maple syrup and remaining almond milk.

- Pour the mix into your 4 ramekins and let them set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

- To serve, cut up the peaches and add them to the top of the finished panna cotta.
Add mint to finish!

So there you have it, our epic and simple Italian feast.

We really are so grateful to have spent two weeks exploring the incredible Puglia region of Italy. Every time we go, we fall more and more in love with the country.

As you wait for the world to adjust and for travel to return, I hope you find enjoyment in creating evenings like this one. Something to look forward to, prepare for and enjoy.

We have loved every minute of bringing Puglia to you and we’ll be writing more about our adventures soon!

Don’t forget to save and pin this article using the image below x