This Italian gift basket called Mediterranean Sunset is based on a meal we ate in Italy! Gourmet food gifts are the perfect gifts for foodies.

This custom Italian gift basket was created in partnership with DeLallo. All opinions are our own.

Guess what? We’ve got an exciting brand new gourmet food gift: a custom A Couple Cooks Italian gift basket! And it’s based on a real meal that Alex and I ate in Italy this summer. Our favorite Italian foods brand, DeLallo, asked us if we’d like to curate an Italian gift basket for you. We’ve traveled to Italy several times and many of our recipes are Italian style recipes. So, we could not be more excited to curate this gift basket based on our latest trip to Italy! Keep reading for the story behind the basket and how to get one: it’s the perfect gift for foodies!

The story behind this Italian gift basket

This is an Italian gift basket with a story. On the Italian coast this summer, Alex and I enjoyed a simple homemade dinner with family, while watching the sun set over the Mediterranean on the terrace of our rented villa (sounds impossibly quaint, and it was!). And the menu was so simple: pasta with great pesto, a few antipasti, fresh veggies and delicious cheeses–and of course: great company.

Years before, Alex and I had honeymooned in Rome and on the Amalfi Coast, before we knew anything about food. But those charred artisan pizzas, that creamy Cacio e Pepe pasta that we slurped in the shade of the Pantheon: it inspired us. We were young and didn’t have much money, but that didn’t matter. Italian everyday food was totally accessible and so good. Italy showed us the power of delicious, well prepared, thoughtful food. In many ways, that trip was the foundation of who we became as A Couple Cooks.

Here it is: Our Italian gift basket!

So! Fast forward 11 years and we were in Italy again but this time, with our family. Alex had dreamed for years of bringing his mom to Italy, and now here we were! With our toddler Larson, his brother and his wife, and our niece and nephew, we spent a few days in a salmon pink villa hugging the rocky shore of the Mediterranean (in Tellaro Italy — here’s everything about our trip!). The meals we ate in restaurants were incredible, but one of our favorite memories is a meal we cooked with ingredients from the market and enjoyed on our terrace.

What struck us was how delightfully simple eating in Italy can be! Here are some photos of that meal: pesto pasta with the most incredible Italian basil pesto, some fresh veggies and cheese, some cured meats, and some grapes. We set the table of the terrace during golden hour and sat around drinking wine as the sun sank low in the sky. You know those moments when you feel a little twinge of, “I think I’ll remember this forever?” This was one of them.

Here we are! That very meal in Tellaro!

Here’s our meal on the terrace in Italy! Somehow foods from the market came together into this, even with 3 kids as part of the process!

What’s in this gourmet food gift basket?

This gourmet food gift basket recreates that Italian meal at home! All the products are from DeLallo. Of any companies in America, DeLallo truly has the best Italian food Alex and I have had in our country. Their basil pesto? Truly amazing, reminiscent of that flavorful pesto we had in Liguria. Their pasta? The best of its kind. Their whole wheat pasta tastes delightfully chewy, compared to some of the cardboard tasting whole wheat pastas we’ve had. Their grilled artichokes? Charred and delightful. Honestly, Alex and I do not say things like this lightly. After being in Italy, it spoils you (in the best kind of way!). These products are that good.

For this Mediterranean Sunset Italian gift basket, Alex and I picked out items that will help you recreate our Italian meal! Add a simple green salad, sliced vegetables, and crusty bread–and it’s a meal! Here’s what’s in the basket:

• Biodynamic Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta
• Traditional Basil Pesto
• Olive and Artichoke Bruschetta
• Grilled Artichoke Halves
• Pitted Castelvetrano Olives
• Parmesan Cheese Wedge (eat it sliced!)
• Sliced Prosciutto
• Sliced Genoa Salami
• Natural Pistachios

Order the Italian gift box!

Click here to order the gift box! We hope you enjoy this basket as much as we do: it’s perfect for holiday gifts for foodies or enjoying with family.

A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living