Giovanni Rana, from Verona, Italy, has been a master pasta maker for more than 50 years. At a young age, he entered the food industry by joining his brothers in a local bakery. By 1959, he was hand-delivering tortellini to families in his region via motor scooter. Several years later, he was able to open his own company, "Pastificio Rana", which quickly became a hit throughout Italy. Giovanni Rana invented machinery for his company which would replicate his unique handmade process for creating the perfect pasta. In 2012, Giovanni Rana opened his first factory in the United States.
Giovanni Rana clearly takes great care in providing customers with authentic, quality pasta. Some companies lose that special homemade taste when they start mass production, but that is not the case here! Giovanni Rana utilizes top-notch ingredients, many of which are D.O.P (Protected Designation of Origin -- meaning that they must come from a specific place and must be made in a specific way). Some of these unique ingredients include: Genovese Basil (grown in the mountains of Liguria), Golden-yolked eggs (from specially raised hens), Parmigiano Reggiano (a certain cheese from Northern Italy), and flour (for perfect consistency and al dente taste).
Giovanni Rana offers the following delicious pasta varieties and sauces:
Tortelloni Prosciutto
Ravioli Cheese "Forte"
Ravioli Spinach E Ricotta
Ravioli Chicken Rosemary
Ravioli Artichoke
Ravioli Mushroom
Ravioli Caprese Duet
Tortelloni Cheese "Delicato"
Tortellini Cheese "Delicato"
Ravioli Cheese "Delicato"
Tagliatelle
Fettuccine Paglia E Fieno
Oven Ready Lasagne Sheets
Gnocchi Di Patate
Spaghetti
Basil Pesto Sauce
Bolognese Sauce
Alfredo Sauce
Marinara Sauce
Giovanni Rana is sold in many major grocery stores and small markets across the country, and they are continuously expanding the reach of their products. Some stores you might find their products in include: Hannaford, Price Chopper, Costco, Shoprite, Shaw's, Giant Eagle, Shop n' Save, Sweetbay, etc. You will find their products in the cold but not the frozen section -- both the pasta and the sauce. I think this is a great aspect of the pasta, because I feel like it tastes more fresh and more gourmet this way. Also, it makes meal preparation a lot faster, which I appreciate!
Giovanni Rana was generous enough to send me the package of pasta and sauces pictured above. I received the Marinara Sauce, Basil Pesto Sauce, Bolognese Sauce, Ravioli Artichoke, Ravioli Spinach E Ricotta, Ravioli Cheese "Delicato", Ravioli Cheese "Forte" and Tortelloni Prosciutto. I was very impressed with their quick response and wonderful customer service. The pasta arrived at my door in a refrigerated box, packaged very precisely. They included many freezer packs to keep the pasta at the proper temperature when it came. I have seen Giovanni Rana products in the local grocery store where I work, and customers have been buying them left and right. This prompted me to reach out to the company, so that I could try the pasta myself and pass on the good word. I wanted to see what all the hype was about!
My family wanted to try the Ravioli Artichoke first, because we are huge artichoke fans. I have never seen such a unique ravioli flavor; I'm used to either purchasing cheese or beef filled varieties. We decided to pair this Giovanni Rana product with the marinara sauce that we received, along with some homemade garlic bread. I usually rush out the door to work, and I know that I will be busy with medical school, so it was very comforting to see how quickly a quality meal could be produced. I will stop heating up Ramen noodles and I will instead devote those 4 minutes to cooking Giovanni Rana pasta. All you need to do is boil water, throw in the pasta for four minutes, and sprinkle some cheese on top and you have a dish that tastes like it took four hours to prepare. The Ravioli Artichoke was amazing; it was very flavorful, and four minutes gave it just the right amount of tenderness. The marinara sauce was the perfect complement, and also tasted extremely authentic and flavorful...not like the cheap cans of tomato sauce I am used to buying! This is honestly the best ravioli that I have ever had, and I am a big ravioli fan who has tried many brands.
Another night, my mom and I had more time to prepare dinner, so we chose to use Giovanni Rana's Ravioli Spinach E Ricotta as a base. We love to use our left-overs in a creative way so as not to waste them, so we incorporated them into our ravioli dish. After boiling water and cooking the pasta for four minutes, we added Progresso's starter sauce, mozzarella cheese, and either leftover chunks of cooked ham or my mom's homemade meatloaf. Then we added a simple garden salad and buttered bread to make a filling meal. This Giovanni Rana Ravioli was just as tasty as the artichoke flavor. I love that I am getting the added touch of vegetable with my dish without having to boil spinach.
Since Giovanni Rana's products have quite a lengthy period of time before they "expire", I decided that I would wait until I move into my new apartment to use the other pastas and sauces. My boyfriend and I love trying to make new dishes and will certainly need help stocking our new fridge! When we make meals with the other products that I received, I will be sure to update this post with my "recipe" and pictures. In the meantime, I highly recommend that you go out and find some Giovanni Rana pasta to try for yourself! The retail price is very reasonable for the quality and simplicity of preparation that you are receiving.
Interested in learning more about Giovanni Rana and their products? Click the links below:
Website
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