Christmas Bundle- Santa's Haul

Santa's Haul is the bundle for the person who is serious about their Italian pantry - or for the gift-giver who wants to send something that will actually get used rather than sit on a shelf looking decorative. Two bottles of Piccardo & Savore olive oil, two tins of San Marzano tomatoes from two of Campania's best producers, a pack of quality bronze-cut pasta, and a Christmas card. It is a generous gift that covers the foundations of a good Italian kitchen in one package.

The olive oils cover both cooking applications: Piccardo's regular olive oil handles the heat - sauteing, roasting, building a soffritto - while the extra virgin is for finishing and raw applications where the flavour of the oil should be present and obvious. Both come from Liguria, where the Taggiasca olive produces oils with a characteristic mild fruitiness and balance.

Solania and La Carmela represent two of the most respected names in DOP San Marzano production. Both grow in the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese, the volcanic plain south of Naples where the combination of mineral-rich soil, the right seed variety, and dry summer heat produces tomatoes with a sweetness, low acidity, and depth that no other growing region matches. Having both in the pantry means a supply of the real thing for slow-cooked sauces, pizza bases, and anything that calls for a great canned tomato.

Borella's handwrapped spaghetti - bronze-extruded, slow-dried, from the Venetian pasta tradition founded in 1935 - completes the picture. Something for every pot on the stove.

This is a gift that tells the person receiving it that you understood what they actually cook.

Best for: Gifting to home cooks, Italian food lovers, or anyone who takes their pantry seriously.