Smart & Final La Romanella Products, Giveway, and Recipe

Smart & Final has a wonderful product line:

Here are a few products from La Romanella:

Mediterranean Inspired Cooking
using La Romanella Products
sold at Smart & Final

Smart & Final is having a wonderful Giveaway!



They are promoting their La Romanella products by having an amazing contest/giveaway on Facebook.  Enter here for your chance to win a trip for two to Sonoma Wine Country!

Smart & Final sent me a box full of their La Romanella products and asked me if I would like to share a Mediterranean inspired recipe with my friends & followers.  Well, of course, I said "yes."   It's really wonderful  when a company is asking you to try out their products and cook a nice meal for the ones you love!  Smart & Final also gave me a $25 gift certificate to buy any additional items for my dinner.  Right now they are having a fabulous deal:  Buy a bottle of Turning Leaf Wine for $5.99 and get a package of selective varieties (16 ounces) La Romanella Pasta Free!  I sure did take advantage of this promotion! (Promotion good through 2/22)

First, I had to investigate what would make a recipe Mediterranean.  I checked out this website to get my answers.  I was surprised by the wide range of countries that actually made up the Mediterranean area.  Mediterranean cuisine is defined by the preparation of food in three regions: North African (particularly Morocco), eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey), and southern Europe (Italy, France, and Spain).  As you can see, I could go in many different directions with the recipes!  

I browsed the internet to find the perfect recipe that was considered Mediterranean that my husband would enjoy.  There are so many to choose from so go and explore!  I picked a few recipes that I felt would be easy to prepare with the wonderful ingredients from the La Romanella line.  I asked my husband to pick from them.  His choice:
 

Penne Pasta with Blue Cheese and Mushrooms (I modified this recipe to our liking)

  1 package of La Romanella Penne Pasta

    1 Medium onion - finely chopped

    2 Clove of garlic - finely chopped

    1 Teaspoon of dried tarragon

    1lb. Of mushrooms - sliced

    1 Cup of vegetable or chicken stock

    8ozs. Of good blue cheese - Gorgonzola       

    1 Bunch of flat leaf parsley

    La Romanella  extra virgin olive oil

    La Romanella Parmesan to sprinkle

    Salt and black pepper to taste

    10 Cherry tomatoes: cut lengthwise

    1 sweet red pepper

Method

First fry the onions, mushrooms, red pepper and tomatoes in some of the olive oil in a non stick fry pan - on a good heat - making sure they are well browned. This takes about 10 minutes.  

Turn down the heat and add the garlic - cook for five minutes stirring as you go.

Now add the stock and tarragon and reduce until sticky. About 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile you can cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water for about 8-9 minutes.

Crumble the blue cheese into the sauce - add half the parsley and salt and pepper to taste, giving it a good stir.

Drain the pasta, return to the pan and add the sauce - mix well.

Spoon onto 4 dinner plates. 

Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and the rest of the parsley.

This was an easy recipe to make.  Although, I really did make a big mess in the kitchen while making it! 


P.S. My husband loved it!  Worth the mess I made in the kitchen.

Please, go check out Smart & Final's La Romanella line; they have so many great products.

Disclaimer:  I was compensated for my time from Collective Bias.  All of my opinions are truly mine.  I will always share my honest opinions.