ITALY ON A PLATE Using Contadina Pasta and Sauces

It was a fine afternoon and we got invited to a fun shopping blitz over at Robinsons Selections in McKinley Hill. Our friends from Contadina challenged us to a shopping spree and a cooking challenge and I think I've been able to step on the plate and whipped up ITALY ON A PLATE. My original idea was to do something with pesto but when I got there, I got overwhelmed with the tons of ingredients I could choose. SO instead of doing just one dish, I decided to do 3 to signify the colors of the Italian flag!

You see, I love three types of pasta that I usually cook for celebrations. So why not put them together and make it pretty right? It was super easy to prepare too because I used Contadina pasta. I just cooked it according to the package directions, and it stayed al dente even if I cooked it a little over 8 minutes. The sauces were also all bottled so I didn't have to put in that much spices because it was already good as is. So basically, no more chopping, no more hours spent in simmering tomato sauce because it's already in a bottle. You just have to cook the other things like chicken, tuna, beef, and bacon. I also added butter, olives and capers to give it a more authentic look. I did the video too so check this out!

So you see, it's not hard to cook. I even have one it without slaving away two days in the kitchen because sauces come in a bottle, and the pasta is easy to cook. Plus, it tastes great! That's what easy looks like, that's what CONTADINA gives guys too. Premium pasta goodness like what your Mom used to make!

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Contadina Set To Conquer Philippine Kitchens

It looks like the lives of the Filipinos will become so easy this year as one of the world's most recognized food brands finally lands in the Philippines. I'm sure you've seen Nigella Lawson in several blogs and TV programs and she was here for the same reason. Have you heard of Contandina?

It's a brand that's pretty well known in the US because that's where it started in World War 1. Three immigrant families found themselves in a situation where there was a shortage of tomatoes in America. That's when they found the soil in California apt for growing an even better harvest of these lovely fruits. They started making these products and thought of home. Now they have different sauces, canned tomatoes, rich olive oil and pasta, and a woman in the fields is representing them on the packaging. That's exactly what it means in Italian.

Trying Contadina for the first time had me thinking, why hasn't this been released in the Philippines when we're one of the most pasta loving people in the world? Even if we have our own sweet version, we have tons of people in the country who prefer the more conventional, herby and classic sauces right? Like me for example, I love Arrabbiata. The Contadina Arrabbiata Sauce is a little on the sour spicy side as it's got tomatoes, garlic and chili as it's main ingredients. It's lovely on Penne pasta and only needs a little heat when making as it's ready to serve on these handy dandy bottles which Contadina comes in. Aside from that, they also have Napoleatana which is made from vegetables mixed in with the usual ingredients like the Trinity in Italian cooking (onions, carrots, celery). The Aglio Arrostito on the other hand is made from tomatoes and the wonderful roasted garlic. I can already imagine having a hot bowl of it looking at my bed side window while the rain pours. Perfect comfort food.

I love antipastis and these olive oils would really make it special. They have Pure Olivr Oil which you can use to cook and the Extra Virgin Olive Oil for just dipping with bread or your salads, or just on top of slices of parma ham and prosciutto. I can go on and on and we'd still be hungry haha! I'm imagining things already! 

For those hearty stews, Contandina also have these canned tomatoes that'll be perfect for that. Imagine baking chicken topped with cheese and spending a few minutes on the stove, but we don't really have to wait for hours and waste precious time stewing because the sauce is already good to go.

The Linguine and Penne pasta stayed firm and al dente as we cooked it at home. I overcooked the penne a bit actually but it didn't become mushy at all. The convenience, the flavors, all come easy in a bottle or a can, plus a very competitive price range if you compare it to the existing local ones. It's hearty, homey and definitely reminds you of the Italy and how it's made by the Italians.

Are you excited about Contadina?

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Ruth's Birthday and the Clara Ole Wizardry Event

Sectumsempra! (Me as Professor Severus Snape)

A few months ago, we got invited to Ruth's birthday. She's a good friend and part of our rowdy bunch called The Suspects. The premise was, we needed to dress up as the theme required Harry Potter. I was a little overly excited because I only thought of dressing up as one of the characters in the series. I have this affinity to be a little evil every now and then and I remembered how some people even teased me that I look like Professor Snape a couple of years ago. The actor Alan Rickman who played his role just recently passed away so I wasn't really feeling it, but in some way I had to do it to pay homage to the man who portrayed Severus Snape. Now I wasn't really alone suiting up as a Harry Potter character because there were others who dressed up as Harry, Hermione, Dobby and others. Fortunately, I had a Mom who slaved about 3 days with no sleep to make my costume a bit realistic so she won this one for me. She got a brand new induction cooker, pots, pans, utensils and tons of Clara Ole products in return. Love you Mom!

The party was also sponsored by the good people from Clara Ole. I've attended one of their events last year and this was a bit magical. The food they prepared had a LOT of Clara Ole products on them which had sauces, syrups, fruit preserves and tons of other products from them that made the task of preparing this EASY. Just use the usual ingredients, take dabs of the Fruity or Maple Syrup and make the easy beef slice horderves. For pasta, just use the usual ingredients but make the base with the Three Cheese Sauce so you don't have to make it from scratch. Now people might think it would be better with natural ingredients but if you think about it, the Clara Ole sauce was at par. You don't need to spend hours chopping tomatoes, grating cheese or simmering and use precious gas to have it this good. Sad that we weren't able to take photos of the food that much because people were so excited to eat them as soon as the doors opened!

We also played games during the event where several teams won goodies from Ruth and Clara Ole. I love that the place was transformed to the mess hall we often see in Harry Potter movies. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor would be proud. We also got Nimbus 2000 packs to take home so we could experience having the same Clara Ole magic in our kitchens too.

In the end, I was so happy for Ruth that she got to celebrate her birthday with friends, family and us the bloggers. We had fun too, that's what is important for her, and it was just super easy because we had Clara Ole on the side to make it a hassle free celebration. With a flick of the wrist, the swish of the wand, everything was magical and happy because we've seen ourselves transported to Hogwarts even for a day.

Team Suspects

Thank you Ruth for having us, thank you also to Clara Ole for a magical evening!

Photo Credits: All photos in this post belong to Rodel Flordeliz of Nognoginthecity.com and not mine. I had to be in character and didn't get to take photos :(

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