Bespoke Post Mangia Box Review & Coupon – January 2016

Now anytime is pasta time!  Bespoke Post is a men’s lifestyle subscription box.  Each month, you’ll get to choose from one of the limited-edition boxes filled with an array of products built around a central, unique theme. There are usually two or three new boxes to choose from every month in addition to a selection of past boxes. One of the great things about this subscription is that you can skip the month if you’re not interested in it. Save $9 on your first box with coupon code FREEBEER.

Mangia is a new box that is part of the January Selection. It is still available for purchase! 

When you’re looking for a new restaurant to try, look no further than your kitchen counter.

With a chef-worthy pasta maker and a book of respected recipes, you can easily create your own Italian feast. Show off your newfound culinary skills by hosting your next dinner party, or add candles and a bottle of wine for an at-home date night.

The front side of the information card provided information on Mangia.

The reverse side has some general food-related items of interest.  This month had a mini-article about some misunderstood spices and how to best use them in your cooking.

Everything in the Mangia box — which also happens to be nearly everything you need to make fabulous pasta at home.

Weston Supply Roma Manual Pasta Maker ($26.99):  I’m actually surprised at the modest cost of this item, because it is a really nice pasta maker.  It’s relatively compact, with the footprint of most toasters, and it will secure to pretty much any countertop or table with a lip.  It’s pretty intuitive and super easy to use.  The main part of the machine has a seven-setting roller for making the sheet of pasta.  A removable cutting attachment sits on the back and uses the same detachable crank to operate.

I think this is the best Valentine’s Day dinner kit ever!  Italian is a classic meal for a romantic dinner, but you will get gouged on price at a restaurant, that is, if you thought ahead and made your reservation three months ago.  Instead, make homemade pasta (it’s really easy, truly), and make a quick sauce from the Frankies book — or grab a fancy $7 bottle of sauce from the store.  Pair with a bottle of wine, and you’re in the clear.  No crowds or weather, no huge price tag, and you can down a few bottles of wine for the price of one when you aren’t paying the mark-up!

This is the underside of the pasta cutter.  It has both fettuccine and spaghetti rollers — it’s surprisingly heavy!

The roller used to flatten the dough has seven settings.  You begin on seven, the largest.  After running the dough through once, you can move down 1-3 steps, repeating at the smaller setting.  I found that running pasta through on 7, then 5, then 3, resulted in a perfect thickness of noodle.

Wild Cherry Spoon Co. Cherry Wood Heavy Chef’s Spoon, ~13.5″ ($25?):  This spaghetti paddle is one of a kind, made from a branch of real cherry wood.  It’s perfect for stirring a big vat of pasta and is sure to draw a comment or two.

The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual By Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, and Peter Meehan ($16.76):  Featuring dozens of recipes from the Frankie Sputino’s restaurant in New York, this high quality cook book has both classic and innovative Italian recipes to try at home.  Written in a light-hearted, irreverent voice, this masterwork simplifies Italian cooking and makes one of the fanciest cuisines highly accessible to the novice cook.

The book is really beautiful.  A center section has several pages of full color photographs.

My favorite aspect of the book is the Joy-of-Cooking-esque educational bent.  More than just a collection of recipes (though there are some great ones in here), the book is a primer in Italian cuisine, providing essential background on the ingredients an techniques that make Italian cuisine so beloved.

The book is also handsome enough to hang out in plain view.  It is hard-bound and has beautiful gold leaf on the covers and edges of the pages.

Molino Grassi Organic Durum Wheat Semolina Flour ($7.90):  Though all-purpose flour will work, semolina is the preferred flour for making classic pasta.  Imported from Italy, this organic durum semolina makes a tender and beautiful noodle.

Homemade pasta is incredibly easy — and fast — to make.  I used the recipe from the Frankies book and needed only egg, salt, and water to add to my semolina.  The longest part of the process is letting the dough rest for a 1/2 hour.  The machine flies through dough, cranking out enough pasta for a family in a matter of minutes, plus, fresh pasta also cooks in about two minutes.  The machine did a fabulous job at making both fettuccine and spaghetti.  I like the wider noodles, but my baby adored the spaghetti (and he doesn’t usually like pasta).  It was a hit with all the kids (including Brandy), and it keeps well in the freezer, too.  I’m super impressed with the machine.

This box isn’t a super value, mainly because the pasta machine is more moderately valued than one would expect.  Along with the book, I will get years and years of use out of it.  This box is a smart play for Valentine’s Day — I cannot think of anything more impressive than taking homemade dough from the fridge and turning it into gourmet pasta in under five minutes!

Visit Bespoke Post to sign up or to find out more or to subscribe! Save $9 on your first box with coupon code FREEBEER.