Italian Archives - Regensblog

Creamy Goat Cheese Tomato Pasta

I am a total sucker for a creamy tomato sauce. Unfortunately, they tend to be a little disappointing. This is the exception.

The goat cheese flavor is pretty pronounced, so if you’re not a fan, this one isn’t for you. The original is here, but I made lots of changes (chief among them: cutting out the bacon – sundrieds really fill that meaty, umami slot for me). That said, the technique is the same and I might employ it in the future. As a plus, this comes together very quickly.

2 shallots, minced
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
100 g (roughly) oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and sliced thin, oil reserved
2 T white wine
1 14.5 oz/400 g can stewed tomatoes
1 small pinch salt
1 small pinch sugar
1/4 t dried oregano
1 large pinch dried red pepper flakes
1 lb/500 g short pasta (1/4 c pasta water reserved before draining)
3-4 oz/100-125 g spreadable goat cheese (Ziegenfrischkäse)
lots of torn basil leaves

Heat a deep skillet over medium low heat and warm 1-2 T reserved sundried tomato oil. When oil shimmers, add shallots, garlic and sundried tomatoes and stir frequently until shallots and garlic are tender (3 minutes). Add wine and cook until 3/4 reduced (and the boozy smell is gone). Add canned tomatoes, salt, sugar, oregano and red pepper flakes and reduce heat to low. Stir to combine, crushing tomatoes with spoon. Allow sauce to simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, then remove from heat and set aside.

Cook and drain pasta, returning it quickly to the pot off the heat. Add goat cheese to pasta and stir well to coat. When goat cheese is well distributed, pour in tomato sauce, again stirring very well. If sauce seems too thick, add a little pasta water to loosen it to your desired texture. Add torn basil and stir until just distributed. Serve immediately.

Ca’ de Memi

The Joint

Agriturismo Ca’ de Memi de Scquizzato Ottorino
via Roma 4/B
35017 Piombino Dese PD

Tel.: +39 049 93 66 516
Mobile: +39 349 69 87 953
Email: info@cadememi.it
Web: http://www.cadememi.it

For our last minute trip to the Veneto, we stayed at Ca’ de Memi, which I found in a rather roundabout way. I knew we wanted to stay near Roncade in order to pick up wine from Castello di Roncade. But I didn’t want to stay there; we stayed there last time and, while we enjoyed it, I wanted to sample some other offerings of the region. Continue reading Ca’ de Memi

Restaurant Colosseum

The Joint

Restaurant Colosseum
Inh. Teixeira Pinto
StadtamHof 5
93059 Regensburg
Tel. +49 941 28 00 74 65

Cliff

This seems like one of those locations that has a hard time staying in business. Maybe it’s cursed (not a big surprise, owing to its history), or just had a string of unlucky proprietors since we’ve been here in Regensburg observing it. But I really hope this iteration sticks around, despite the odds facing it. The location is ideal for us and food quality was, by our estimations, very high. I like that the owner comes around to check on his guests while they are eating. But I’m troubled by what seem big threats to his livelihood.

Trattoria Marina is just a few meters away and has a much flashier location, setup, and is well established as the Italian restaurant on this part of the island.
They seem to have much more capacity for seating than necessary. Of course, they just opened this spring.
It’s hard to know what the place is actually called . The building is labelled “Colosseum”. Is that the name of the restaurant? Cursory google searches about the restaurant yielded nothing useful. What about carry-out business? Phone number on the door? All of that was missing or not obvious. Seems like the owner is relying on walk-in/by business. Hope that’s enough.

Here’s what it does have going for it: homemade pastas (excellent!), decent pizzas, a great bruschetta, and a Buy 10 Get 2 Free deal on carry-out pizza. I just hope they can stick it out against the odds.

Sarah

Locals already know this, but for those just visiting, Regensburg suffers from a glut of Italian restaurants. Most of them are fair-to-middling with a few standouts. Colosseum is on track to be counted among the standouts. Service is friendly and attentive. The food is fresh and well-priced. They don’t seem to have the flair that Marina has, but they’re far more pleasant to deal with – just try ordering a pizza from both places and see which experience is better.

Osteria Siciliana

The Joint

Osteria Siciliana
Schopperplatz 3
93059 Regensburg
Telefon: +49 (0) 941 8500 2990
Telefax: +49 (0) 941 8309 151
E-Mail: info@osteriasiciliana.de

http://www.osteriasiciliana.de

Cliff

Nice place, from the looks of it. The presentation of the daily specials by our waiter to our large group of mostly Americans made for great expectations. And the service was quite charming and attentive. But the food — the most important part of the experience! — just didn’t hold up as well as we’d hoped after all that buildup. I had a ham, parmesan cheese, and arugula pizza which would have been great if not for the lackluster sauce (did someone forget to add basil or oregano or something to the pureed tomatoes?). In the end, it was fine. Maybe even quite good as compared to other regions. But we’ve got a ton of Italian restaurants around here and it’ll take more than that to stand out.

Sarah

I concur with Cliff, to the letter. The location is great and they have a nice, large outdoor dining area. The prices looked pretty mid-range for such a diverse menu. The service was really great, especially considering our large party. But the food itself was a little meh. And in a place with so many good Italian restaurants, it just has to be better than that to compete.

But we might go back, if only for a beer in the gazebo.

San Daniele

The Joint

Prüfeninger Schloß Str. 2
93051 Regensburg
Germany
phone: +49 941 / 30 75 999 fax: +49 941 / 30 75 997

http://www.sandaniele.de

Cliff

We’d gotten food (carry-out) from here once before, since good friends of ours live in this part of town. I was surprised at the quality of the food in comparison to the prices — it was a good ratio. I had the carbonara (same as when I’d had carry-out, back in the day) because I just can’t turn it out. I like to say it’s for consistent evaluation, but I’d be full of it. And I really was yesterday, because I didn’t realize that the Insalata Piccante I ordered was big enough to be a meal in and of itself. Oh yes. This was a nice evening…with the possible exception of the sommelier, who seemed like he had an attitude problem. Everything else was great.

Sarah

Fabulous! Thanks for the rec, Matthias! In a town overcrowded with Italian restaurants, this place is a stand-out. I had the Mushroom Risotto and a glass of Lambrusco. It was wonderful – high praise, because risotto dishes are easy to mess up if the cook isn’t paying attention. After the meal, on Matthias suggestions, Cliff and I shared an order of profiteroles (chocolatey cream puffs). Again, Matthias knows best. YUM!

Part of the reason I think San Daniele can offer such great food at reasonable prices is that they are located a little ways outside of the Altstadt – about a 7 minute drive from our apartment. Therefore, they don’t have to pay the high rent for location. I don’t mind the trip to eat like this.

Azzuro

The Joint

145-146 Sutton Walk, Waterloo,
London, SE1 7ND
phone: +44 08713325332

Cliff

After walking around all day on our last full day in London and checking out the Salvador Dalí museum, Sarah wanted to find yet another Indian restaurant, but I just wanted to eat and we happened upon Azzuro. I was pleased with the carbonara pasta I had. It was a nice way to round out our trip to London.

Sarah

Nice little place. Right in the middle of a museum/business district, so I bet they do huge lunch business. Good pasta, good price. I was most excited to sit down and drink something!