While shopping in Napoli is part of the holiday fun, you can still find many of our favorite regional items online. This is Sauced & Found’s top five gift picks for the holiday season. All are made in Italy. They are sure to remind the Italophile in your life of our Bella Napoli.
Vesuian Tomato Sauce
Vesuvian tomatoes are a thing of beauty and they get even better around Christmas time. Family run farms on the slopes of Vesuvius store hanging tomatoes in special cellars until the Christmas season when they become extremely concentrated and sweet. We serve them with pasta and seafood here in Naples and the Amalfi Coast. While difficult to find in the United States, buy Canned Afeltra Tomatoes at Eataly or San Marzano Tomato Seeds as stocking stuffers. Make Sauced & Found's favorite ragù
Gragnano Pasta
Gragnano Pasta is the best pasta in all of Italy. It holds its shape and is perfect when tossed with simple sauce of garlic and olive oil or wholesome ragù. The best brands are Di Martino, Afeltra and The Fabbrica della Pasta di Gragnano. An pasta loving gourmand will appreciate a stash of Gragnano pasta and lucky for you, it is available on Amazon.
Just remember, spaghetti goes with clams, bucatini with tomato sauces and penne goes with ragù. The local favorite shape is paccheri which is serves with Sunday ragù.
Solimene Ceramic Plates
What to serve all this pasta and tomato sauce on? Why Solimene Ceramic plates of course. The Amalfi Coast Town of Vietri Sul Mare specialized in ceramic production and the Solimene factory is the best in town. It is a blast to browse, but for now, you can content yourselves with their online retailer. They ship overseas! Serve your Italian style Christmas Eve dinner on these plates and you will be instantly transported to the Amalfi Coast!
Torre del Grecco Coral Jewelry
Torre del Grecco has been making corral pendants since Roman times. Their jewelry which ranges in price from reasonable to astronomical makes it part of the fun of browsing. Any self respecting Neapolitan lady will have at least one piece of corral jewelry in her repertoire. My favorites are the rings. Antonino de Simone is among the best.
Marinella Ties
Presidents, kings and priests have all worn Marinella. Everyone known Naples is the best place in the world for fashionable mens suits. And Marinella ties are about as classy as it gets. They have a gem of a store in the glitzy Chiaia neighborhood of Naples and a sizable collection available online.
