giovanni rana Archives - Munchies and Munchkins

Last month I won a pretty amazing food blogger competition which was run by Foodies100 and Giovanni Rana. This was my entry. I was pretty astonished and quite proud to have been chosen as the winner and thrilled with the prize of a Pasta Masterclass with Giovanni Rana and Antonella Rana as well as a goodies bag and supermarket voucher.

Lucky me hey?

So a few weeks ago I travelled to the Giovanni Rana restaurant in London and had a lot of fun learning some new pasta skills, meeting some really interesting people and eating a rather enormous amount of excellent food. All in all a pretty amazing day.

First up we had some snacks and a drink while chatting about what the plan was for the day. It a tough life …

Next we moved onto the pasta Masterclass where we met the very lovely Giovanni and Antonella. We learned to make a basic pasta dough before moving to experiment with making fillings and filled pasta. I picked up loads of tips and I can’t wait to try them out at home.

To finish up we had a delicious three course meal with an incredible red wine.

We started with a selection of Italian cured meats and cheeses with gnocco fritto bread and chutney. It was a really impressive starter.

I then moved onto Beef and Pork Cappelletti with butter and sage with Parma ham crostino.

To end a delectable meal we had a selection of home made sweet ravioli & the chefs dessert selection.

A quick thank you to Giovanni Rana, Wildcard PR and Foodies100 for a fabulous prize and a wonderful day.

Check out the Giovanni Rana website and their vodcast series.

The Indulgence Range comes in the following flavours:

Crumbly Ricotta, Baby Spinach & Mascarpone
Succulent Chicken & Rosemary Ravioli
the Sun Ripened Tomato, Sliced Olives & Mozzarella Ravioli
Gorgonzola PDO & Crunchy Mellow Walnut Ravioli

and is available from:

Sainsbury’s
Asda
Ocado
Morrisons

RRP: from £2.15

This post is an entry into the Giovanni Rana/Foodies100 competition to win a place on a pasta Masterclass.

We eat a lot of Giovanni Rana pasta in our house. I’m not just saying that, we really do. I tend to buy it whenever it’s on offer in Asda. It’s so quick and easy to make yet also so good that it was a life saver in the first few months after Chloe was born. In fact it was our first meal at home after we returned from the hospital. I normally just cook it as per packet instructions and then toss it in a little olive oil/butter and black pepper. Sometimes I add wilted spinach or rocket or a sprinkling of cheese. It’s delicious.

Inspired by this recipe challenge I decided to do something a bit different with my pasta ..I put my thinking cap on and created this healthy (ish) pasta bake recipe.
Most pasta bakes are laden with cheese or cream and as I’m currently watching my fat intake I decided to try to cut out as much of the fat content as possible whilst still being a tasty dish.

This happened to be made on a (very) rare day when I was lunching alone. Normally I would just have a sandwich or some toast so this was a lovely treat for me. For a meal for two just double the quantities.

Individual Chicken, Bacon and Rosemary Pasta Bake:

You will need:

1/2 packet of Giovanni Rana chicken and rosemary large ravioli
3 tbsp natural yoghurt ( I used fat free)
2 tbsp of breadcrumbs – I mixed a little garlic powder in with mine
2 tbsp of bacon lardons or cubed pancetta
A large sprig of rosemary ( 1/2 diced and 1/2 for decoration)
1/4 red onion diced
Knob of butter
A pinch of crush black peppercorns and seasalt

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6. Sauté your bacon, diced rosemary and onions in a large pan. Add your butter and once golden take off the heat. Cook your pasta to packet instructions, drain and place into the pan, mix together and place in a small ovenproof dish. Pour over your yoghurt and top with your breadcrumbs, seasoning and top with a sprig of rosemary.