Piece by Kate Antoni, FG London Correspondent
There are moments in life where you think, this is it and, you take a breath and smile at the inner fifteen-year-old weirdo you once were, with the one friend (she is still my friend). My dreams have come true not figuratively, but literally! Last month at the La Famiglia Rana pasta event, I had at least four of those moments and it wasn’t just because I had eaten six bowls of gnocchi. On entering the Good Housekeeping Institute’s London headquarters, I was greeted by an explosion of warm embraces from the loveliest team, fitting really because the faces behind Rana are the loveliest family and the best thing about it, is that they really are a family.
The Mediterranean brood you see on the pasta packets are Antonella and Jean Luca, their children and her father in law Giovanni, who started the company in 1962 when he hand made tortellini and delivered it across his home town in Verona on a motto Guzzi motorcycle. A revolution began when Giovanni started selling a high quality product that had previously been made only at home. Now the Rana products are sold in 58 countries, taking inspiration from their respective audiences. Antonella explained to me that there are flavour combinations that wouldn’t be acceptable in Italy, chicken tortellini for example, but in America people love it and they want to give people what they love. This embodies the company and the ethos of those behind it. It is and has always been a family affair, they treat press events as they would dinner in their home with friends – they gave me extra food to take away for my smalls and invited me to their home when I visit Verona in August. The chef Gennaro Contaldo dropped by unannounced because he’s a friend. It’s business, but it’s business with a soul and that translates into the product. Candy the wonderful Rana marketing force told me with such passion that each of the 200 ingredients that arrives at the factory is tasted by at least two people, each egg is cracked into a glass and inspected – yes of course technology is helpful and sell by dates are important but human touch is still monumental – just because a package says it’s a good egg – doesn’t mean it’s true. Each ingredient, she remarked, is chopped by hand which is why the term “chopped not blitzed” is emblazoned on their packaging.
Today’s event was showcasing the pan ready Gnocchi. A formulation that allows for us to skip the boiling process and get straight to the sauté, no mushiness in sight! Add it to a pan with some olive oil or butter and in about five minutes you’ve got yourself a solid meal. The spinach gnocchi were made for me with burrata, dehydrated tomatoes and olives – I gobbled this up quickly and efficiently. There are now bloggers out there that think I’m somewhat of a brute.
The chef then created a twist on the classic niçoise with flaky pink salmon, green beans, juicy ripe tomatoes and pickled red onions – innovative and tasty, something that my dad would like and he’s notoriously hard to please. My favourite fusion came in the form of a gnocchi frittata – can you even imagine such a thing of beauty? They told me it was an Italian take on a fry up – gnocchi, Basil, pancetta and quail’s eggs – cooked in a pan and cut into slices. I will be making this for man friend later in the week, coupled with a few cold beers. What more could you ask for during this very welcome heat wave? A one pan gourmet dish, ready in 20 minutes and no oven necessary. Yes, please kind pasta people.
I recreated the pumpkin gnocchi at home and added butter, olive oil, a sprinkling of brown sugar and some cinnamon, why didn’t anyone think of this before? The chef added toasted almonds and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s a really fun summer dessert dish or if you have children – it’s dessert for dinner. A healthy nutritious and balanced meal with all the fun of pudding. As I gnawed my way through this generous portion I spoke to Nick, who heads the marketing for Rana in the UK. This was after the rest of the team laughed at him for eating pasta every day. He said he was surprised that Brits hadn’t embraced gnocchi sooner because, let’s face it, it’s pasta and a potato in one. It’s comforting and substantial and quick and easy. I ate more and pondered the question. I had embraced it, but I’d never liked it that much – commercially bought gnocchi is usually heavy, stodgy and dense. Or mushy, which is substantially worse. Maybe, I thought, Brits hadn’t embraced it because we didn’t know what to do with it. Maybe we weren’t ready. Maybe now, Brits are about to experience the pasta revolution that sparked Rana’s success, fifty years ago. Though, it’ll be the Ocado man delivering instead of Giovanni on his motorcycle, the passion is still the same and we’re all in for a treat!
