Bellavita Expo *

On Sunday we headed over to The Design Centre in Islington for the Bellavita Expo. We were treated to a Prosecco breakfast by the event sponsors, Villa Sandi, and got to try award winning chocolate, panettone and plenty of other sweet treats.

To work off our sugar rush we took a wander around the stalls to try more Italian goodness and it didn’t take us long to realise just how passionate they are about their food. I feel us Brits just eat because we have to and not because we love the food we produce. Every stall we stopped and spoke to the producers at just proved their enthusiasm for what they do and it was so infectious; it’s made me really want to up my cookery game. Last night I used some of the La Molisana spaghetti quadrati to accompany the bolognese sauce I spent a good hour preparing and it was the best I’ve cooked yet!

We also spent some time watching Gennaro Contaldo produce three pasta dishes. For those that don’t know of him, you need to; he was the delightful chap that taught Jamie Oliver all he knows! Gennaro was so passionate and so amazing to watch. I did learn that putting in a little grated cheese whilst cooking helps improve your dish and throwing in a pinch of salt to the water you boil your pasta in is a done thing in Italy… maybe that helped last night!

We have truly fallen in love with Italian cooking and I’m going to be making an order from the Bellavita online store to get some authentic Italian ingredients as they really do have it sussed!