Mediterranean Diet Experience

Did you know that Italians live longer than any other nationality? One of the reasons has to be their diet. In Italy meals are generally cooked from scratch with simple natural products grown or produced locally. We love this philosophy and have created this hamper to bring you the very best ingredients used daily as part of this rich and healthy diet.

What’s inside 

• Organic Whole Wheat Penne Rigate Pasta (500g) Organic whole wheat pasta, bronze die cut, dried at low temperatures and made in Gragnano the birthplace of dry pasta. Our Pasta Gragnanese Penne Rigate not only taste better and retain all of their goodness when cooked, they also have plenty of surface area to absorb the flavour and liquid of the sauce with which it they are served. Penne rigate are medium length tubes with their ends cut at an angle (like a quill or fountain pen) and with deep ridges (rigatura) are said to have originated in Campania and are a perfect shape for all sauces.
• Organic Tomato and Vegetable Pasta Sauce (200g) Alce Nero ready to use tomato and vegetable sauce is made with organic vegetables from Italy and with plump tomatoes from the Po Delta in the provinces of Ferrara and Ravenna. The tomatoes are harvested at just the right level of ripeness and processed within eight hours on average in order to preserve all the flavour, aroma, and nutrients.
• San Marzano Tomatoes PDO (400g) Said to be the best canned tomatoes money can buy, San Marzano tomatoes are fantastic for cooking as they have fewer seeds and firmer, meatier flesh.These tomatoes cook down faster and retain a richer and sweeter flavour, making them perfect for pasta and pizza sauces. The Italians love them so much they conferred a “protected designation of origin” (PDO) status, such as is also enjoyed by Stilton cheese and the sparkling wines of the Champagne region.
• Cenzino Organic Olive Oil (500ml) Giovanni Marvulli’s ‘Cenzino’ extra virgin olive oil from Matera, Basilicata is both healthy and full of flavour averaging almost three times the polyphenols of typical extra virgin olive oils. A certified organic oil, fruity with a distinct almond after taste and an elegant aroma, wonderful on salads, cooked vegetables, fish and seafood or simply drizzled on your crusty bread or bruschetta.
• Wholegrain Black Venus Rice (500g) This medium whole grain, aromatic, black rice is a delicate alternative to white rice. It has a mild nutty flavour and is ideal for preparing risottos (with cheese, fish and shell fish) as well as rice salads and side dishes.
• Amalfi Coast Anchovy Fillets (80g) Fresh anchovies are an oily fish that look and taste similar to sardines. Our fillets of Cetara anchovies from the Delfino Battista family on the Amalfi coast are preserved in sunflower oil and are a healthy ingredient for any dish. Use them in numerous sauces, salads, in pasta or to create a delicious antipasto.
• Amalfi Coast Traditional Anchovy Sauce (100ml) Our colatura di alici from Cetara is an aromatic and fragrant amber liquid that is easy to digest, is rich in vitamin A and enhances any dish. It can be seasoned with fresh herbs such as parsley, garlic, paprika and some lemon zest and added to extra virgin olive oil to create a wonderful sauce for spaghetti or linguine. Or just simply drizzle over bruschetta or grilled vegetables. A little goes a long, long way.
• Sicilian Shredded Aubergines (314ml). These slightly spicy crunchy Sicilian aubergines have a bold flavour making them ideal for an aperitivo or a snack in their own right.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil (314ml) Bring some Italian sunshine to your dishes with Vorrei’s sun dried tomatoes from Sicily. They can be used eaten from the jar as part of an antipasti spread or added to pasta dishes to give a burst of Mediterranean flavour.
• Borlotti Beans (300g) The hearty and nutritious Borlotti bean is widely used in Italian cooking. The beans are large and plump and when raw, ivory in colour with reddish-brown streaks. They take on a darker colour when cooked and the interior becomes floury. Borlotti beans are free from cholesterol and particularly rich in protein. They are perfect in soups, stews, pasta dishes and risottos.
• Organic Cannellini (300g) Cannellini beans are a staple of central and southern Italian cooking and are particluarly popular in Tuscany. When cooked they become creamy and fluffy and are perfect in pasta dishes (pasta e fagioli), soups (minestrone), purées, broths, salads and dips. This type of bean is an excellent inexpensive source of protein which is also high in fibre, low in fat and free from cholesterol.
• Organic Pesto Sauce (180g) Our delicious organic pesto is made simply in Liguria with just healthy, natural ingredients – organically grown basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil and pine kernals. Suitable for vegans, this pesto is wonderful on pasta, great for adding to gnocchi or just for spreading on a bruschetta or in a sandwich.
• Dried Whole Chilli Peppers (50g) If there is one thing that makes Calabrian food Calabrian, it is spicy red peppers, and these whole dried chilli peppers are hot! While many varieties of hot pepper are grown in the region, most are referred to as Calabrian peperoncino, and used in regional dishes. Like all capsicum plants, Calabrian peppers require hot weather to flourish and develop the oils that give them their spiciness. In Calabria chillies are sprinkled abundantly on just about everything including pasta dishes and sauces, pizzas, lentils, beans, fish, and risottos.
• Chocolate Fig Bites (200g) These soft, sweet and chewy Calabrian figs are complemented by a thick layer of delicious dark chocolate – it’s impossible to eat just one!
• Citron Marmalade (200g) The cedro or citron is a lovely, fragrant citrus fruit – its flavour when perfectly ripe can fill a room. They look like huge, lumpy lemons; they are coloured a vibrant yellow and the skin is thick and fleshy. They are prized largely for the rind, which makes up about 70% of the fruit and is sweet, tender and only very slightly bitter. Made in sunny Calabria where the cedro has been grown since ancient times, this marmalade is bitter sweet giving a sudden kick in the middle of the sweetness. Perfect on buttered toast!
• Organic Chianti Superiore Poggio ai Grilli (750cl) This is an organic Chianti produced from 100% Sangiovese grapes by the Tenuta San Jacopo Estate, in Tuscany. This prestigious and popular Tuscan wine is a dark ruby red with an appealing fresh fruity bouquet. Full-bodied, round and harmonious in the mouth, matured in the bottle to harmonise and develop. Year: 2018 Alcohol: 13.5%

Please note that if we are out of stock of any item we reserve the right to substitute it with the most similar available item.

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Dietary

Allergens, wheat, celery, soybeans, sulphites. Made in an establishment that also uses nuts, milk, sesame, eggs, gluten.