Menu Speciality Food Ltd (FKA) IB Food Ltd

Fine Italian ingredients for chefs

Menu Speciality Food Ltd

Suppliers & importers of high quality Italian and
Mediterranean ingredients for discerning chefs

Porcini Del Boscaiolo

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 Rustic theme for the coming autumn with the distinctive flavours. Porcini mushrooms (edible boletus) adapt themselves wonderfully in the preparation of both traditional and innovative recipes.
The king of the wild mushrooms has its own exceptional flavours that combined with a variety of ingredients stands out and giving that extra special aroma making the dish unique.

All is needed is a few days of rain and nature creates this wonderful funghi.

Pesce in Cartoccio con Porcini
Baked Fish in Parcel with Porcini

Ingredients for 1 portion:

– 1 Whole Fillet of Sea Bream (or John Dory or SeaBass)
– 80g Porcini del Boscaiolo
– 40g Baby Artichokes in Oil & Herbs
– 20g Sundried Tomatoes
– 5g Fish Fumet
– 10ml La Nonna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Black Pepper to Taste

In a baking tray line with silver foil and baste with the extra virgin olive oil. Place the Porcini on the foil and the fillet on top. Sprinkle with a little of the fish fumet and freshly ground pepper.
Drizzle some olive oil on top. Place the artichokes and the sundried tomatoes to one side.
Close the foil around the fish so that it looks like a parcel and bake in a preheated hot oven (200’) for approximately 15 minutes until the fillet is cooked.
Remove from the foil and serve at once with the artichokes and sundried tomatoes as a garnish.

 

Gnocchi with Porcini Gratin

Ingredients for 8 portions:

– 1 Bag Gnocchi Powder
– 450g Porcini del Boscaiolo
– 100g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 50ml Milk
– Salt & Pepper to Taste
– 1 Clove Garlic
– Freshly Chopped Parsley
– 50g Freshly Grated Parmesan
– 20g Butter

Prepare the gnocchi as per the instructions on the bag (i.e. mix with 1 litre of cold water and knead to a dough, shape and cut to size one desires).
Heat the porcini with the garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Add some of the freshly chopped parsley.
In another saucepan melt down the 5 cheese sauce with the milk and butter. Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water until they rise to the top and strain. In a baking dish, that has been buttered, place a layer of the gnocchi, add a few tablespoons of the mushrooms and a little of the 5 cheese sauce. Alternate another layer with the Gnocchi, porcini and cheese sauce. Sprinkle the freshly grated Parmesan on top and Bake in the oven until golden.
Serve at once.

Porcini del Boscaiolo II

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 The season for Wild Mushrooms has opened and here are some tasty recipes using the Porcini del Boscaiolo. These ceps are sliced and cooked in their own lovely juices with some herbs, making them ideal for all types of recipe preparations, from pasta to lasagne, to stuffings, and sauces for meat. An excellent vegetarian substitute.

Starter – Risotto with Porcini del Boscaiolo

Ingredients for 6 portions:

– 500g Carnaroli Risotto Rice
– 1/2 Tin Porcini del Boscaiolo (ceps)
-1 Glass Dry White Wine
– 1 Onion, finely chopped
– 1 Handful Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped
– 2 Lt Vegetable stock
– 100g Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
– 3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Gently fry the onion in the oil until golden. Add the carnaroli rice and stir until slightly transparent then add a little of the white wine. Keep the stock to one side simmering constantly over a low heat. Add a little stock to the rice and stir constantly. As it absorbs the liquid add more stock a little at a time. When nearly cooked add the rest of the wine, when absorbed add the porcini del boscaiolo wild mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste.

Once ready, slightly al dente, which takes approx. 30 minutes, add the freshly chopped parsley and parmigiano. Stir and serve at once.

Main course – Quails with Porcini

Ingredients for 6 portions:

– 12 Boned Quails
– 1/2 Tin Porcini del Boscaiolo
– 100g Fresh Breadcrumbs
– 50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Splash Dry White Wine
– Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
Mix the porcini with the breadcrumbs and stuff the boned quails. Seal with a tooth pick to keep in the stuffing. Place in a roasting dish with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, adding the splash of white wine. Roast in a preheated medium oven for approximately 20 minutes until golden and cooked.

 

Accompany with:

Pesto Mash

– 2kg Potatoes Cooked and Mashed
– 100ml Milk
– 100ml Cream
– 200g Pesto alla Genovese

Flavours for the Christmas Festivities

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 Here comes the long awaited Christmas festivities celebrated with lunches and dinners all pre organised to enjoy each other’s company.

The time to enjoy different recipes, flavours, aromas of various traditional cuisine’s that can all combine together with the Mediterranean theme: – diversifying from the usual

Roast Turkey….

Risotto alla Campagnola
(Risotto with Ceps and 5 Cheeses)

Ingredients for 6 portions:

– 400g Condimento Porcini Sauce
– 35g Buon Brodo (Vegetable Bouillon)
– 500g Vialone Nano Rice
– 1 Shallot Finely Chopped
– 50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 28g Butter
– 50ml White Wine
– 60g 5 Cheese Sauce
Agnello ai Carciofi
(Lamb with Artichokes)

Ingredients for 6 portions:

– 6 Giudia Artichokes
– 6 Lamb Stincottos
– 100g Pancetta (Bacon)
– 1 Onion Finely Chopped
– 1 Clove Garlic Crushed
– 50ml White Wine
– Freshly Chopped Parsley
– 50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Salt and Pepper

Fry the garlic, onion and diced pancetta (bacon) in the olive oil until golden then add the lamb until slightly browned. Add the white wine and allow to evaporate. Salt and pepper to taste.

Once the lamb is nearly done, (approximately 20 minutes), cut the giudia artichokes into quarters and add to the lamb with the parsley.
Heat throughout.

Serve at once.

Sugo all’Isolana

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 A long awaited, full of mediterranean ingredients, sauce made with fresh tomatoes,
sundried tomatoes, capers, anchovies and a touch of chilli. Rich in flavour and colour and can be used in a variety of recipes.

Coralli all’Isolana

Ingredients for 4 portions:

– 400g Sugo All’Isolana
– 250g Coralli Pasta
– 25g Pine Nuts
Cook the Coralli in salted boiling water until al dente. Toast the pine nuts lightly. Place the Isolana in a frying pan to heat, add 1 ladle of boiling water to dilute a little and the pine nuts.
Strain the pasta and toss in the sauce. Portion into plates and serve at once.

Tonno all’Isolana

Ingredients for 1 portion:

– 1 Fresh Tuna Steak
– 30g Sugo All’Isolana
– 20g Crème Fraiche
– 100g Wilted Baby Spinach Leaves
– 5ml Extra Pesto Oil

Sear and grill the tuna steak.
Heat the Isolana sauce with the crème fraiche and pour over the tuna steak. Serve at once on a bed of freshly wilted baby spinach leaves. Drizzle the extra pesto around the plate and serve at once.

Bruschette all’Isolana

Ingredients for 1 portion:

– 1 Bruschetta
– 2 Chargrilled Aubergine Slices
– 30g Isolana Sauce
– 2 Tbs Crème Fraiche

Grill the bruschetta bread on both sides, brushing with some extra virgin olive oil if liked. Place on a plate, add the chargrilled aubergine slices, top with the Isolana sauce, dot with the tablespoon of crème fraiche.
Place under a grill to heat through and slightly brown the crème fraiche. Serve at once.

 

Pesto alla Genovese

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Just a few summer ideas using the Menu’ Pesto alla Genovese.
A very fresh and fragrant ingredient that can be used in a variety of recipe preparations, just a little imagination is required. Pesto has become very popular not only in pasta dishes but in meat, fish and vegetable dishes, infusions. A medley of freshly steamed or stir fried vegetables tossed with a little Pesto and some extra virgin olive oil make a wonderful vegetarian dish.

Just add it to all sorts of recipes and see what happens!

Salmon & Pesto Parcels

Ingredients for 2 portions:

– 28g Pesto
– 75g Fromage Frais
– 2 Sheets Filo Pastry
– 25g Butter (melted)
– 2x125g Salmon Fillets (skinned)
– 50g Cocktail of Wild Mushrooms
– Salt and Pepper
– Salad Leaves (optional)

Mix the pesto with the fromage frais or another soft cheese. Halve each sheet of filo pastry. Layer two pieces of the filo, butter lightly between and on top of the pastry.

Place a salmon fillet in the centre of each pastry rectangle, top with the mushrooms and half of the pesto sauce mixture, then season with salt and pepper. Wrap the pastry around to enclose the fish, brushing most of the remaining butter over the parcels. Place the parcels on a baking sheet.

Cook in the oven at 200’C (400’F) for about 15 minutes or until golden. To serve, open the pastry and spoon in the remaining pesto mixture. Serve accompanied by salad leaves if liked.

Chicken with Pesto & 5 Cheese Sauce

Ingredients for 4 portions:

– 100g Pesto
– 100g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 100ml Milk
– 15g Fresh Basil
– 4 Chicken Breasts with Skin (about 175g each)
– Salt and Pepper

Carefully push 3-4 basil leaves under the skin of each breast.

Place the pesto in a pan with the 5 cheese sauce and milk. Stir over a low heat until amalgamated.

Cook the chicken breasts under a moderate grill for 6-8 minutes on each side or until they are cooked through. Salt + pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Pesto alla Genovese II

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 Although Pesto is becoming a generic term for all manners of fresh herbs and nut pastes, the original Ligurian Basil Pesto must still be considered the best.

Pesto is a very versatile ingredient that can be used in many ways and should be utilised in more adventurous recipes.

Baby Squid with Anchovy and Basil

Ingredients for 4 portions:

– 450g Baby Squid
– 3Tbs La Nonna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 4 Anchovy Fillets
– 2 Garlic Cloves
– 3 Tbs Flat Leaf Parsley
– 30g Pesto alla Genovese
– Dressed Mixed Lettuce Leaves
Rinse and clean the baby squid.
Warm the extra virgin olive oil, anchovies and the finely crushed garlic. Stir until the anchovies have melted and the garlic sizzles.
Raise the heat and add the squid to cook quickly until it is opaque and golden. Toss in the finely chopped parsley.
Place some dressed salad leaves (in olive oil and balsamic vinegar is nice) on 4 plates and divide the squid between them.
Heat the pesto, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to dilute and then pour over the squid.
Serve at once.

Scallops alla Genovese

Ingredients for 1 portion:

– 3 King Scallops
– 150g Mashed Waxy Potatoes
– 30g Pesto all Genovese
– 10ml La Nonna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 2 Tbs Fresh Cream
– 1 Tbs Butter

Add the Fresh cream, butter and approximately 20g of the Pesto to the mashed waxy potatoes to create a creamy basil flavoured puree’ and keep warm.
In a frying pan add the extra virgin olive oil until hot add the scallops until cook unitl golden and tender..
Heat the remainder of the pesto with a little water to dilute.
Place the basil puree’ in the centre of the plate, the scallops on top and drizzle the pesto around the plate. Serve at once.

Pumpkin Sauce

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  Pumpkin, soft and sweet, warm and inviting in colour, is one of the most versatile vegetables that has never been used to its fullest due to the laborious task in preparing the flesh for use.
Menu’ has done all the hard work and has left us with a puree’ of pumpkin that can be used in numerous ways from savoury to sweet recipes. With a little imagination wonderful Mediterranean and International dishes can be created.
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Pumpkin Risotto

Ingredients for 10 portion:

– 430g Pumpkin Sauce
– 22g Buon Brodo (makes 1lt Veg. Stock)
– 1 kg Vialone Nano Rice
– 2 Onions Finely Chopped
– 60 ml La Nonna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Salt & Pepper
– 150g Walnut Sauce
– 100g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 2 Glasses Dry White Wine
– 100g Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Gently fry the onions until golden, add the rice to toast slightly and got transparent. Add a little wine and then slowly add the vegetable stock, a little at a time as the rice absorbs the liquid.
Half way through cooking, when the rice is still slightly hard, add the pumpkin sauce, walnut sauce and the 5 cheese sauce. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the remainder of the wine.
Slowly finish the cooking the risotto until well
amalgamated and al dente. Add the parmigiano reggiano stir and leave to rest for a few minutes then serve.
You can trickle a little extra virgin olive oil on the portion of risotto that you are serving.
Please note, that if you are preparing the risotto in advance, after you have added the ingredients and the rice is still slightly hard, remove from heat and cool down quickly. Place in the refrigerator until
required. When ready to use, take the portion
required and finish off with the remainder of the stock and serve at once. This procedure allows you to serve a risotto in 5 minutes rather than keeping the customer waiting with excellent
results.

Pumpkin and Potato Gnocchi in a Tomato Sauce

Ingredients for 10 portions:

– 700g Gnocchi Powder
– 430g Pumpkin Sauce
– 1 Lt Water
– Salt & Pepper
– 600g Pomodorina
– 100g 5 Cheese Sauce

 

Mix the powdered Gnocchi with the pumpkin sauce and water. Knead well into a dough making sure there are no lumps. (Add a little flour if the dough is slightly wet). Roll out into long sausages and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

Prepare the pomodorina with the 5 Cheese sauce and leave to one side. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Drop the gnocchi into salted boiling water. As soon as they rise to the top, remove with a strainer and toss in the sauce. Serve at once.

Walnut Sauce

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 As Christmas is coming closer what better than to put on your menus delicious recipes using the Walnut Sauce! This will not only make your menus interesting to your clientele but also offer superb dishes for the ever increasing vegetarians. ( Please note that you must mention that this sauce is not suitable for nut allergy suffers).

Coralli in a Walnut & Rosemary Pesto

Ingredients for 4 portions:

– 250g Coralli
– 3 tbs Fresh Rosemary
– 120g Walnut Sauce
– 60g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 100 ml Milk
In a blender add the fresh rosemary to the walnut sauce. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water till al dente. Just before straining the pasta add a little of the cooking liquor to the walnut sauce, 5 cheese sauce and milk that has been slowly heating through for a creamy consistency.

Drain the pasta and toss in the sauce.
Serve at once.

 

Maccheroni al Pettine with Walnut &  Mushrooms Sauce

Ingredients for 4 portions:

– 250g Maccheroni al Pettine
– 200g Cocktail of Wild Mushrooms
– 1 Clove Garlic
– Freshly Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
– 100 Walnut Sauce
– 50g 5 Cheese Sauce ( an option)
– 100g Milk
– Salt and Pepper to taste
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water till al dente.
In the meantime panfry the clove of garlic and the cocktail of wild mushrooms.

Remove the garlic and add the 5 cheese sauce, walnut sauce, milk, salt and pepper to taste. Drain the pasta and toss in this delicious sauce, add the flat leaf parsley and serve at once.

 

Radicchio Sauce

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A wonderful delicate ingredient made with Italian Radicchio Trevigiano cooked in olive oil, white wine, onion, butter, salt and a touch of balsamic vinegar. The latest trend/ flavour served in a risotto or pasta dish sweeping the restaurants in Italy.

Risotto al Radicchio

Ingredients for 10 portions:

– 1kg Vialone Nano Rice
– 800g Radicchio Sauce
– 150g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 50g Butter
– 60g Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano
– 150ml White Wine
– 1 Finely Chopped Onion
– 44g Buon Brodo (Vegetable Bouillon)
(making 2 litres of vegetable stock)

Fry the onion in butter until golden, add the vialone nano rice and stir for a few minutes. Add the white wine and let it evaporate over a low heat, then pour the stock a little at a time allowing the rice to slowly absorb the liquid until cooked “Al Dente”.
The stock must always be kept on the stove so that it remains constantly hot.
After 20 minutes, add the radicchio sauce, 5 cheese sauce, freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, and continue to cook adding the stock when
required , stirring constantly. (The secret in
achieving a wonderful risotto is never to saturate the rice with stock to the point of boiling in the
liquid, it must slowly absorb a little at a time).
With this special rice, it take approximately 30
minutes to have the risotto nearly cooked as the vialone nano remains “al dente”. Once the risotto has reached this stage, remove from heat and place in a large baking tray so that it can cool down very quickly.
Once cool place in a refrigerator until required.
To reheat the risotto, place the portion required in a saucepan adding a little boiling vegetable stock and stirring constantly until ready, approximately 5
minutes.
Et Voila’!

Gnocchi al Radicchio

Ingredients for 2 portions:

– 500g Gnocchi
– 200g Radicchio Sauce
– 50g 5 Cheese Sauce
– 80g Walnut Sauce
– 100ml Milk

 

Wild Boar Sauce 

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A new and exciting delicious game sauce of wild boar cooked in barolo wine – tender and succulant . Ideal for many dishes from rustic pasta dishes to making a wonderful wild game lasagne.

Pasta in a Wild Boar Sauce Served Between Rondells of Puff Pastry

Ingredients for 3 portions

– 6 x 120 cm Circles of Thin Puff Pastry
– 25g Chopped Pine Kernels
– Egg Wash for Pastry
– 300g Miniature Garganelli Cooked Al Dente
– 100g Mange Touts Cut Into Strips

Sauce

– 2 Cloves of Garlic Finely Chopped
– 25g Shallots Finely Chopped
– 1 Large Orange Zest and Juice (100ml)
– 25ml La Nonna Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 150 ml Dry White Wine
– Pinch of Saffron
– 200g Wild Boar Sauce
– 50g Walnut Sauce
– 100ml Double Cream
– Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Pre cook the miniature garganelli in salted boiling water. When al dente , strain and toss in a little olive oil.
Place 3 circles of puff pastry on a baking sheet, use a fork to prick the surface of the pastry, restricting it from rising. Brush with the egg wash and bake.
The remaining 3 circles require only a brushing of egg wash topped with a sprinkle of chopped pine kernels.
On baking they will rise, just cook to a golden brown and allow to dry out a little in a cooler oven.

Gently sweat the garlic, shallots and zest of the orange in the olive oil without colouring. Add the white wine, simmer for 5 minutes then add the orange juice. Bring back to boil and simmer for a further 4-5 minutes. Stir in the wild boar sauce, walnut sauce and cream. Taste for seasoning.

Heat sufficient sauce in a pan, add the mange-touts, miniature garganelli and stir until hot.
Warm up the pastry discs.

To serve, place a tube ring (60cm high), a little bigger than the pastry disc, into the centre of
a hot plate, arrange a pastry disc on the bottom. Put a portion of pasta on the pastry, level
off and firm in.
Ensuring everything remains hot, top with a second layer of pastry and pasta, finishing
with the final layer of pastry. Carefully remove the tube ring, pour the remaining wild boar
sauce around the pasta dish, garnish and serve.