Italian cuisine is a firm favourite for British families, with pasta and pizza more often than not appearing on the weekly menu.
Grandmother Celia Hopkins, 64, originally from Italy, has said Brits can fall victim to some monumental errors when aiming for an authentic dish.
The chef is one of a team of home cooks set to take part in Deliver-A-Nonna – a Birra Moretti service which will offer those in London and Bristol the opportunity to be served an authentic Italian meal in their own home.
As the service is unveiled, Celia has revealed the most common mistakes families can make when preparing pasta, including serving Bolognese sauce with spaghetti.
Celia also shared her top tips for making the perfect pasta dish – and the answers are simpler than you might expect.
According to Italian grandmother Celia Hopkins, 64, Brits can fall victim to some monumental errors when aiming for an authentic dish
THE WRONG PASTA
One of the most common errors Brits make when preparing Italian food is with the type of pasta served alongside Bolognese sauce.
According to Celia, spaghetti Bolognese isn’t an Italian dish at all, but is in fact English. In Italy, bolognese would traditionally be served alongside tagliatelle as it ‘holds the sauce better.’
Another easy mistake is to add cream to a traditional carbonara. This dish is made solely with eggs, pancetta and pecorino cheese.
The grandmother has also suggested some key ingredients aspiring chefs should have in their kitchens when preparing authentic Italian food.
These include olive oil, wine, hard cheese, pasta, polenta, tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, anchovies, pancetta and ricotta.
The home cook has unveiled the most common mistakes families can make when preparing pasta, including simply serving bolognese sauce with spaghetti
PERFECT PASTA
Cooking pasta to perfection can be tricky, and it’s easy to miss the mark when aiming for the traditional ‘al dente’ consistency.
But Celia has revealed there’s no secret to cooking the Italian staple well – cooks only need to check whether or not it’s ready with a simple taste test.
Alternatively, chefs can throw a piece of the pasta at a tiled oven wall. If it sticks, the gluten is perfectly ready for the sauce to stick to the pasta.
The grandmother also recommended would-be Italian chefs should boil pasta in salt water as it raises the cooking temperature.
She suggested cooks allow ‘ten grams of salt to every one hundred grams of pasta’ and ensure they use a ‘big pot’ for cooking.
Celia also shared her top tips for making the perfect pasta dish without the help of an expert – and the answers are simpler than you might expect (Stock image)
SAUCE SECRETS
Before mixing your sauce with the pasta, Celia said not to drain the pan, but instead to lift the pasta from the pot with a ladle.
Wannabe pasta chefs should then add the pasta directly into the sauce, retaining some of the boiling water and even mixing more into the pan if needed.
When making a simple sauce using tinned tomatoes, the grandmother suggests adding a small amount of sugar to reduce the acidity and heat through until the tomatoes take on a slightly orange colour.
When a risotto is ready, Celia says to add a knob of butter at the end to give creaminess to the dish (Stock image)
BUTTER THE RISOTTO
When a risotto is ready, Celia says to add a knob of butter at the end to give an added creaminess to the dish.
She also suggests saving some of the risotto, to cover and refrigerate, so you can make Arancini the next day for lunch. These are stuffed rice balls which are covered with bread crumbs and deep fried.
Lastly, the Italian food expert said to avoid making fresh egg pasta away from any possible drafts in your kitchen, as it may dry out too quickly.
She also recommends using semolina and not flour to coat the freshly made egg pasta to stop it sticking to the surface.
Celia(middle) is one of a team of home cooks set to take part in Birra Morett’s Deliver-A-Nonna service
The week-long service, which is part of Birra Moretti’s mission to bring more people together around tables in 2019, will take place between July 22nd and 27th in the two cities.
For aspiring chefs, the knowledgeable Nonnas will be on hand to share skills and more of their best kept secrets as they serve a three-course meal.
Brand Unit Director of Birra Moretti, Izabela Glodek, said: ‘Who wouldn’t love a home cooked, Italian meal, served in the comfort of their own home?!
‘Our team of Nonnas will be ready and waiting to jump in to their Moretti motors and head to people’s houses to cook up a storm this July.
‘Our knowledgeable Nonnas will not only provide a delicious feast but also pass on valuable skills and recipes that have been around for generations – inspiring people to get together for home cooked meals around the dinner table more often.’