'Mediterranean Diet Experience' Italian Gift Hamper Inc. Tinned Tomatoes, Pasta, Olive Oil & Antipasti

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 Senatore Cappelli Penne Pasta 500g: This pasta is made using a very special durum wheat semolina - 'Senatore Cappelli' - grown organically in the hills of the Marche, Puglia and Basilicata regions. Senatore Cappelli is an ancient type of grain with a high protein, vitamin and mineral content and has an intense flavour and aroma. It is also much more easily digestible than ordinary pasta.
• 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.
• Organic Paolo Petrilli Tomatoes 314g: These super-sweet organic peeled tomatoes are said to be the finest San Marzano tomatoes in the world! Organically grown in Puglia (just outside the PDO region) Paolo Petrilli tomatoes are the choice of top chefs around the world, served in Italy's finest restaurants and in London's River Cafe'. The crop comes from a limited production of 5 hectares of tomatoes a year to ensure the best possible, top quality product.
• 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 shellfish) 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 particularly popular in Tuscany. When cooked they become creamy and fluffy and are perfect in pasta dishes (pasta e fagioli), soups (minestrone), purees, 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 kernels. 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.
• String of Large Dried Chilli Peppers 50g: Fiery red in colour and taste, this 50cm string of large Calabrian 'pepperoncini' have dried on the vine in the Mediterranean sunshine to give a more potent heat and fruitier taste. Calabria is one of Europe's main producers and consumers of peperoncino which is considered 'medium hot' on the Scoville Scale which measures the heat of chillies worldwide.
• 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!
• Chianti San Vito DOCG Organic Red Wine 750cl: This is an organic Chianti produced from 100% Sangiovese grapes by the Tenuta San Vito Estate, in the beautiful rolling hills that surround Florence. 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. Alcohol: 13%