I recently found ‘Natura & Sapori‘ whist scrolling through twitter . A company who ooze passion and love for a region of Italy that is incredibly close to my own heart. Molise, beautiful forgotten Molise! Molise is situated just above delicious Puglia where my dad and his family come from. My mum Solidea and her family are from Molise, from the capital ‘Campobasso’….I have so many memories from Molise, walking around Oratino village, sitting in the square squished onto a bench with all the nonni ,and a large fresh cake in my hand, well in my mouth,  whilst the aroma of freshly baked bread wafted from the local village bakery. Now I never  knew Molise was so abundant in truffles. If you asked me in Italy where can I find truffles I would most definitely have sent you to Alba in Piedmont. Now however I want to send you to my paese, to my hometown. 
 
Molise I think it is a forgotten region, one you drive through but never stop, but why? I read somewhere it was a through region, you simply drove through it to get to Puglia or drive to the top and hop over to Abruzzo. This really needs to change. As a region Molise offers so much from beautiful scenery, delicious pasta, seafood and now truffles…who knew!
 
 
Natura & Sapori products are homemade using white or black truffles, or with mushrooms and other wild fruits you can find in the woods of the Molise region.
 
The Molise region is a land naturally rich in truffles, one of the largest wild truffle area in Italy, although this is not very well known at all. 
A relevant part of the region was recently recognized as a MAB (Man and the Biosphere ) Reserve from the UNESCO organization. In Italy there are only 13 MAB reserves and only 600 on the entire planet. Biosphere reserves are territories where there is a perfect relationship between man and nature. The economic development totally respects the environment. The entire assortment of Natura & Sapori comes from the reserve and it guarantees unique organoleptic qualities.
Among all the products that Natura & Sapori provide, they would like to highlight their white truffle extra virgin olive oil, truffle creams, sauces and slices. They also make very special truffle cheeses and an excellent and unique honey with truffle!

 

 
 
Natura & Sapori products are prepared with carefully selected ingredients and they are proud to say that they are superior in quality, compared to most truffle products already available on the market. Product presentation is also very important to them; it helps to highlight its authenticity. As an example, the slices of their “Carpaccio” truffle is selected and chosen among the largest ones; in their “Tartufata” sauce there is a visible whole slice of truffle, that shows the craftsmanship of the product, the truffles are all sliced by hand. The product labels are also transparent and elegant to show the product off.  

Gnocchi con tartufo

1 kg peeled potatoes, (maris piper)
1 large egg
250g 00 flour
Salt and pepper to season
Extra virgin olive oil – to drizzle
Fresh truffle – Sliced finely
Parmesan (optional)

1. Boil the potatoes until tender in salted water. Keeping the skins on will ensure the potatoes do not absorb to much water.

2. Once the potatoes are tender, drain them and allow the potatoes to cool for a few minutes. Peel the skins off the potatoes and discard the skins.  Mash or pass the potatoes through a potato ricer to ensure there are NO lumps. Put the potatoes into a large bowl. I now love my potato ricer, its amazing and you will NEVER have lumpy mash again.

3. Into the potato crack in the egg and add half of the flour. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper and work the mixture into a dough with a wooden spoon, then use your hands. Try to not over work the dough s it will become dense.

4. Lightly flour a board and work the remaining flour into the dough.

5. Separate the dough into workable portions and roll out each portion into long sausages and cut into gnocchi size bites, (the size of the top of your thumb is ideal).

6. Once cut to size keep them floured well so that do not stick, also ensure that they are separated.

Place he gnocchi into boiling salted water and cook for about 3-4 minutes until they rise up and float to the top of the water. Drain and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few slices of fresh ‘Natura & Sapori‘ truffle.

 

Have a look at the website for an extensive range of products including beautiful fresh truffles, www.naturaesapori.com