Making simple meals taste great is all about the quality of the ingredients. With that maxim in mind we tasted Italian products from Lupetta
We love a parcel delivery, especially if unexpected, so when a bag came from Lupetta we were all over it.
The company makes the very valid point that Italy is comprised of twenty regions and anyone who has been around the boot knows that each region is fiercely proud of its own produce and somewhat dismissive of the others.
We made the sauce using part of a pot of Calabrian Nduja that was wonderfully porky, spicy and dangerously irresistible straight from the jar.
On reflection though it was probably a waste to use the delicate tomato sauce with such an assertive pork mix, instead we should have used the San Marzano Tomatoes D.O.P.* produced in a small region around Mount Vesuvius near Naples. These were so much better than an ordinary tin of tomatoes, as evidenced by the £1.23 a tin price tag. But if you’re going to make an outstanding Bolognese, then saving 90p or so is not the way.
Lupetta also do a mini bottle of extra virgin olive oil, this is a good idea as olive oil will go off slowly once opened so unless you have a serious olive oil habit, and deep pockets, a small bottle is used up before it gets a chance to degrade, whereas a big bottle could sit around for weeks. Lupetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a mix of 50% Sicilian extra virgin olive oil and 50% Puglian extra virgin olive oil with good grassy, fruity notes followed by a hint of pepperiness that doesn’t catch the back of the throat like some do.
Overall, pretty impressive and you can buy all the products, and there are many more, on the Lupetta website.