This Italian gift basket features twelve pantry essentials. Each comes from a family house making one thing properly. It includes four pastas from a Tuscan mill running since 1860. This includes egg linguine with summer truffle. It also has Genovese DOP basil pesto and cold-pressed Ligurian olive oil. You get Sicilian tomatoes in a sweet basil sauce and sun-dried cherry tomatoes.
This is one of the largest boxes we pack, and it is built to be cooked from rather than admired. Here is how to work through it.
What's in the box
Twelve products, all made in Italy.
- Organic Artisanal Busiate by Morelli — 17.6 oz. A Sicilian spiral. The twist grips pesto and oil that would slide off a smooth shape.
- Organic Garlic & Basil Linguine by Morelli — 8.8 oz. Garlic and basil worked into the dough, so the pasta seasons itself.
- Organic Lemon & Black Pepper Linguine by Morelli — 8.8 oz. Bright and peppery. Best with seafood or simply with oil.
- Artisanal Egg & Truffle Linguine by Morelli — 8.8 oz. Egg pasta with summer truffle milled through it. The luxury item in the box.
- Basil Pesto with Basil Genovese DOP by ROI — 8.8 oz. Protected-origin Ligurian basil, pine nuts and ROI's own olive oil.
- Ligurian Extra Virgin Olive Oil by ROI — 8.45 fl oz. Cold-pressed on the Ligurian coast. Delicate and sweet rather than peppery. A finishing oil.
- Garlic-Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Frantoi Cutrera — 3.38 fl oz. Sicilian oil infused with garlic. One spoonful replaces a whole clove.
- Sicilian Salt for Meat by Frantoi Cutrera — 7.05 oz. Sea salt with oregano, rosemary, thyme, lemon peel and chilli. For meat, fish or vegetables.
- Basil Tomato Sauce by Campo d'Oro — 24 oz. Sicilian tomatoes cooked on a traditional family recipe. Sweet, not sharp.
- Sun-Dried Sicilian Cherry Tomatoes by Campo d'Oro — 6.3 oz. Dried in the Sicilian sun and packed with basil. Intense and slightly chewy.
- Fennel Taralli by Mitica — 8.8 oz. Small crunchy savoury rings baked in Puglia with fennel seed.
- Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino Seasoning by Borgo de' Medici — 5.3 oz. A Tuscan blend of chilli, garlic and parsley. A whole dish in a jar.
Antipasti
Italian grazing board with taralli and sun-dried tomatoes
10 minutes · no cook · vegetarian
Use fennel taralli instead of bread. Tip the sun-dried cherry tomatoes into a small bowl with their oil. Add a spoonful of pesto and Ligurian oil on top. The taralli are dry and snappy. This works well against something soft and oily. A pinch of aglio olio e peperoncino blend with EVOO makes a wonderful bread dip.
From your box: Fennel Taralli, Sun-Dried Cherry Tomatoes, Basil Pesto, Ligurian EVOO, Aglio Olio & Peperoncino
Pesto focaccia, cut into bites
15 minutes · vegetarian
Build the sandwich, then slice it small. Put a skewer through each piece as a passed appetiser. The pesto does all the seasoning. Nothing else is needed.
From your box: Basil Pesto, Ligurian EVOO
Primi
Four pastas, four genuinely different dinners.
Busiate al pomodoro
20 minutes · vegan
Warm the basil tomato sauce, toss the busiate through it, finish with Ligurian oil and toasted breadcrumbs for crunch. The sauce is almost entirely tomato, so it tastes like the fruit rather than the jar.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Tomato Sauce, Ligurian EVOO
Busiate with tomato and creamy burrata
20 minutes · vegetarian
The same sauce and shape, taken somewhere richer. Tear the burrata over the pasta at the table rather than in the pan, so it slumps rather than melts. Basil oil over everything.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Tomato Sauce, Ligurian EVOO
Truffle linguine
15 minutes · vegetarian
Egg pasta already carrying truffle needs almost nothing: butter or Ligurian oil, a little pasta water, Parmigiano. Resist adding a sauce. Cooking time is short, so have everything else ready before the pasta goes in.
- This recipe is written for pici; the egg and truffle linguine works just as well and cooks faster.
From your box: Egg & Truffle Linguine, Ligurian EVOO
Pasta al pesto
15 minutes · vegan
Loosen the pesto with a spoonful of starchy pasta water, off the heat, and toss. Heat dulls DOP basil, so the pan never touches it. Use the busiate — the spiral holds pesto where a linguine lets it run off.
- This recipe calls for paccheri; busiate is an equally good choice here.
From your box: Busiate, Basil Pesto, Ligurian EVOO
Aglio, olio e peperoncino
15 minutes · vegan
This is the dish every Italian kitchen falls back on at midnight. Warm the garlic oil gently. Stir in a spoonful of Borgo de' Medici blend. Toss through the garlic and basil linguine with pasta water. Four ingredients, ten minutes, no chopping.
From your box: Garlic & Basil Linguine, Garlic-Infused EVOO, Aglio Olio & Peperoncino
More for these shapes: busiate with sausage ragù, busiate alla puttanesca, and olive tapenade bucatini.
Secondi
Grilled or roasted with Sicilian herb salt
30 minutes
The meat salt contains oregano, rosemary, thyme, lemon peel and chilli. It seasons and aromatises in one step. Rub it on before the heat. Finish with Ligurian oil after. It works on cauliflower or aubergine just like lamb.
From your box: Sicilian Salt for Meat, Ligurian EVOO
Four ways to run it
Weeknight, 20 minutes — Busiate al pomodoro · green salad with Ligurian oil
Dinner for two — Taralli and sun-dried tomato board · truffle linguine · fruit
Sunday for six — Grazing board · busiate with burrata · roast with the herb salt
Midnight, nothing in the fridge — Aglio, olio e peperoncino. That is the whole menu.
Questions we get
What can I cook with Italy's Finest Artisanal Gift Basket?
Several full dinners. Use four different pastas with tomato sauce or pesto. Use herb salt for roasting or grilling. Serve taralli and sun-dried tomatoes on a starter board.
Which pasta should I cook first?
The busiate with tomato sauce is best. It is the most forgiving. It uses the two largest items in the box. Save the egg and truffle linguine for a special night.
How do the four pastas differ?
Busiate is a Sicilian spiral. Its twist grips pesto and thick sauces. The garlic and basil and lemon and black pepper linguine are seasoned. They need very little on top. The egg and truffle linguine is the richest and cooks fastest.
How much pasta per person?
About 100g, roughly 3½ ounces. The 17.6 oz busiate serves four to five; the 8.8 oz linguine packs serve two to three.
What wine goes with the tomato sauce?
A medium-bodied Italian red with enough acidity to meet the tomatoes. Nero d'Avola or Etna Rosso keeps it Sicilian; Chianti Classico is the safe answer anywhere. For the truffle linguine, a Barbera d'Alba or a white Gavi.
Is the basket vegetarian or vegan?
Vegetarian. Everything is plant-based except the egg and truffle linguine, which contains egg. The pesto is made without cheese.
Does anything need refrigerating?
Not until it is opened — everything is shelf-stable and will hold for months unopened. Once open, the pesto, tomato sauce and sun-dried tomatoes go in the fridge and are best within a week. Keep the oils in a cool cupboard away from light.
What is the difference between the two olive oils?
The ROI Ligurian is delicate and sweet. It is cold-pressed from Taggiasca-country olives. Use it as a finishing oil for pasta and bread. The Cutrera garlic oil is Sicilian and infused. One spoonful in a warm pan replaces a clove of garlic.
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