Carluccio’s restaurants now total over 70 sites across the UK, with a growing number being introduced across the globe, including Qatar, Turkey, UAE and Ireland. Spreading the gospel of good, fresh and superior Italian food, each restaurant features a delicatessen selling a range of wonderful produce from pasta and anti-pasti, through to fresh bread and chocolate.
Founded by renowned chef, Antonio Carluccio back in 1981, the chain has gone from strength to strength to the position it is in today. With a focus on the very best Italian food, Carluccio’s make most items in house including the fresh pasta and ravioli.
With pasta such a firm favourite, it is no surprise that back of house at each restaurant there is a machine that is dedicated solely to the production of ravioli. As Vincenzo Rinaldi explains, it is essential that one of the menu favourites is prepared in the very best way:
“Our Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli is one of most popular items on the menu and therefore we required a piece of equipment that would be dedicated to the cause. After a lot of research we decided on the Somerset Single Pass Roller from Jestic.”
The art of quality and traditional Ravioli is an Italian speciality as Vincenzo explains:
“We put the pasta through the Somerset machine nine times to get a thickness of around half a millimetre. We then carefully pipe the home made spinach and ricotta filling onto the first sheet of pasta, before covering with a second sheet and sealing. The ravioli is then cut into 7cm x 7cm squares prior to being covered in semolina and layered in a gastronorm tray. This is then chilled until the orders start to flood in.”
Carluccio’s customers get 8 pieces in a portion of Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli which is served with an emulsified butter sauce and sage.
“We have been using the Somerset Single Pass Roller for the past 3 years. The benefit of the machine is that it gives the pasta a uniform, precision thickness for improved taste and presentation. Because we are making the ravioli in sheets that are greater than 28cm wide, it is essential that we have a machine that gives us the width we require.”
For Vincenzo, it is the simplicity of the machine that is its greatest selling point:
“The Somerset roller is extremely fast and the simple handle adjustment means that we can change the thickness depending on the requirement of the dish. The other advantage is that the spring loaded scrapers allow for easy removal and cleaning meaning that as soon as we have rolled and completed one sheet of pasta we can be on to the next.”
For further information on Carluccio’s please visit www.carluccios.com
For further information on Somerset rollers, please visit www.jestic.co.uk or call 01892 831960.