February Artisanal Provisions Bring The Flavor

Share your love of flavorful foods with guests this February by incorporating this month’s featured Artisanal Provisions products in your menu. Curated by Shamrock specialty product expert Johnathon Merrick inclusion of these small batch ingredients will impress the most discerning palates.

The unique pairing of buttery green olives with dried tangerine slices and fiery chili peppers makes any dish featuring these Divina olives a menu standout. They are always a crowd favorite, whether served with Prosecco and smoked almonds or finely diced and baked over wild salmon.

Stracchino is a delicate cheese with soft texture and the fresh aroma of milk. It’s a fresh cheese made with whole cow’s milk and raw curd that can be eaten fresh. Belgioioso’s Crescenza Stracchino is extremely versatile - delicious eaten alone, as the final touch on a meal, or as an ingredient in a complex recipe. We love it added to a risotto for a light creaminess or used in a piadina with speck and radicchio. It’s as amazing on a pizza with sausage as it is prepared for a tart filling or cheesecake filling for a tart or cheesecake.

Triple crème cheeses are the result of extra cream being added to the milk in making soft-ripened cheeses. Defined as having at least 75% butterfat, it’s made in relatively small wheels from curd that is handled as little as possible from step one to the end of the aging process. The drink pairing options with Saint Andre’s Brie Triple Cream Cheese provide something for everyone. While a go-to pairing is champagne, it’s wonderful with a fruity red wine like a Pinot Noir, dry white Sauvignon Blanc, stout beer, fruity pilsner or a small batch bourbon. Perfect as a stand-alone or part of charcuterie, simply top a wheel or wedge with fresh or dried fruit, chutney and/or nuts to enjoy with crackers or crusty bread. No matter how it’s served, Saint Andre’s Brie Triple Cream Cheese provides a mouth-watering contrast of flavors and textures.

Calabrian chiles are a category of chile peppers grown in the Italian region of Calabria, located at the toe of the boot. Calabria enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate with little rain during the summer months, which is the prime season for growing chile peppers. While the weather they grow in may be mild, these peppers are anything but. Divina Calabrian Chopped Peppers have a warm, hot, spicy, smoky, fruity, pervasive flavor, although their heat depends on the variety, as does their degree of fruitiness. The peppers are bright and fruity, and rather than an intense burn, they have a warming heat. They are ready to toss over pizza, pasta, grilled/roasted meats or sautéed greens and we like to save the oil for dipping crusty bread.

Menu’s famous Pomodorina Sauce has been its top-selling product for over 40 years. It’s produced in Italy only once a year during the peak of the tomato season in August and is made within two hours of the tomatoes being picked. It is handcrafted and cooked in small batch kettles, with only the highest quality fresh celery, carrots and onions, and fresh basil added at just the right time. With its rich color and ripe tomato aroma, it yields an uncommonly fresh upscale appearance and flavor. It elevates all Italian cuisine, including this Spaghetti Amatriciana recipe.