Giovanni Rana Pasta and Sauces

Posted on January 5, 2014 by bayareafoodie
pasta1

TORTELLONI PROSCIUTTO w/ MARINARA

I recently had the opportunity to try the new line of Giovanni Rana fresh pastas and sauces. If you live in NY or Italy you may be familiar with Giovanni. From what I read online, he is a very popular guy and has a restaurant in Chelsea Market. All varieties of pasta tasted great but my favorites were the spinach and the mushroom ravs. I don’t have an Italian grandmother but if I did I imagine her bolognese sauce would be just like Giovanni’s. I was really impressed.

pasta2

FETTUCCINE PAGLIA E FIENO w/ BOLOGNESE

ranaThe best part is that you can have dinner on the table in 10 minutes. No exaggerating. The pasta cooks in under 4 minutes.  Find the Rana products in your local safeway supermarket –refrigerated section.

Thanks Gio!

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Green Bean Spaghetti Carbonara

Posted on June 11, 2012 by bayareafoodie


This was soooo good….like breakfast for dinner. I did add the egg to the noodles too early which ended up making my sauce more scrambled than oozy but that didn’t stop me from devouring every last bite. Next time, I will remember to let my spaghetti cool a bit before mixing all the ingredients. I had some spinach on hand so I added that to the bacon/onion mixture. Yum.

Recipe link
Rachael Ray Magazine /Oct 2011

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Redd Wood

Posted on May 14, 2012 by bayareafoodie

Famed chef Richard Reddington has opened a casual Italian eatery in Yountville down the street from his Michelin star restaurant REDD.

We arrived early on a Friday night and the restaurant was pretty empty except for the mini bar area which was standing room only. The tables around us seemed to be filled with locals as they knew the staff and brought plenty of their own wine. We were seated in a cozy corner booth that had a view of the entire restaurant. We decided to get a sampling of eats to share. We started off with the grilled artichokes with balsamic & Parmesan cheese which was crazy good but messy. I wouldn’t recommend ordering if you are on a first date. The balsamic glaze ended up all over our fingers and dripping down our arms (but maybe this just happens to us 🙂 ).

Next, potato gnocchi w/ duck leg, rosemary, olives & pancetta. There was no real sauce just the natural juices from the duck. LOVED this.


Of course we had to try one of the wood fired pizzas. We went with the basic fresh mozzarella, tomato & basil. I was expecting this to be my favorite part of our meal but it wasn’t. It was good but the crust was a little over-charred which left a burnt taste in my mouth. Minor mishap.


We finished with the chocolate caramel tart w/ praline & sea salt which was highly reccomended by our server. It was super rich so we had a hard time finishing it. If you are a chocolate lover this dessert is for you!

I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived since the reviews I had read were hit and miss but I really enjoyed the food, service and vibe so I will definitely return.

Rating: 

Website: http://www.redd-wood.com/

Redd Wood on Urbanspoon

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Ziti with Pesto Pantesco

Posted on July 1, 2009 by bayareafoodie

batalipasta

I picked this Mario Batali recipe because we had not been to the grocery in a week and it included ingredients that we had at home. This is similar to a dish I have made many times but this is a bit more zippy in flavor. I love this kind of pasta sauce because you toss everything in a blender and you’re done. Super easy and fast. Make sure you don’t try this on a first date because the garlic is potent.

Recipe link (we used penne and 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes!)

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Cherry Tomato Red Clam Sauce with Linguini

Posted on January 7, 2009 by bayareafoodie

red-linguiniclams

I usually stick to a white sauce when it comes to linguini with clams but this was excellent. I think I’m a convert.

Ms. Ray, you did it again…

Recipe link

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Penne with Triple Tomato Sauce

Posted on August 25, 2008 by bayareafoodie

This was the first pasta sauce I have made where you throw everything in a Cuisinart — no stove top cooking involved. When finished it looked like a cream sauce, yet no dairy was added. It was simple and flavorful. Perfect for a hot summer night. This was one of the “30 best fast recipes” featured in the Sept. issue of Food & Wine mag.

Recipe link

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Lasagna-Style Baked Pennette with Meat Sauce

Posted on June 5, 2008 by bayareafoodie

Mike and I hosted a get together last Friday night. Since we both had to work during the day I came up with the idea to make a lasagna because we could make it in advance. I ended up using a recipe I found in the December 07 Food & Wine Magazine. It was a variation on a lasagna and looked really yummy. It consisted of penne pasta, a hearty amount of lamb and veal, some tomatoes and a creamy cheese sauce. It turned out really good. A small amount goes a long way with this dish. It’s very rich. We easily fed 9 people and still had leftovers for two more meals.

Minor modifications for next time would include more tomatoes and maybe some garlic. This was my first Italian dish without any garlic…

Photo gallery (Click to enlarge):

You can also find the recipe in the 2008 Food & Wine Annual Cookbook

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American-Italian all’Amatriciana

Posted on May 24, 2008 by bayareafoodie

rachelpasta

I have been watching Rachael Ray hammer out her 30 minute meals for the past 3 years and not once have I actually been motivated to try to recreate her dishes. That is until now…
Last weekend on an episode called “Believe in Bacon” she made American-Italian all’Amatriciana and for some reason I was moved. I went to the grocery, picked up the items I needed and set the clock for 30 minutes. I wanted to see if I could beat her time. I soon realized that she is a really fast chopper and she doesn’t follow all the steps that are listed on the recipe during her show. Looking at the instructions it takes 25 minutes just for the sauce to cook. That leaves me with 5 to organize, clean, chop and grab pots –IMPOSSIBLE. When I had finished it took me about 55 minutes. But it was worth it. Mike loved it and so did I. The pasta called for pepper bacon and fire roasted tomatoes so it was smokey and had a bit of heat. I was super surprised. Rachael knows her stuff.

Recipe link

By the way I didn’t use the cheddar. I stuck with Parm and I added chopped basil like she did on the show.

Rachael 30 minute meal cookbooks:
Classic 30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals
30 minute Meals 2

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