Pasta Pasta Pasta

With yet another rejig of the farm shop shelves, we have been able to increase our range of quality pastas. We are very lucky to be stockists with the award-winning Italian supplier Seggiano, and we are trying out all that they have to offer.

New to our line up is a range of organic ‘slow dried’ and ‘bronze drawn’ pasta from Tuscany

Slow Dried

The commercial process of drying pasta involves heating the pasta to a high temperature and then quickly drying the pasta. The result of this method is that the pasta becomes brittle and therefore harder to digest. The clue is in the name with slow dried pasta. The result of a slow dried pasta is a much lighter pasta with a less processed flavour profile. Try a bowl of standard pasta next to slow dried pasta and you will taste the difference immediately

Bronze Drawn

The goal when cooking a pasta dish is to get the sauce and the pasta to become one. There are a few simple ways of doing this but essentially it is amount emulsifying the starchy pasta with the fat in the sauce. This is much harder to do however if your pasta does not have a coarse texture. The roughness of the pasta provides a surface for the sauce to stick to and this is what makes bronze drawn pasta so brilliant – it provides the perfect texture to work with the sauce to create a coherent dish.

Gluten Free

Our gluten free range has already gained a great following in the shop – its great tasting pasta but without the gluten. Come and give it a go

Here is a simple recipe to get you going…

Serves 2

Ingredients:

250g Tagliatelle (gluten free works just as well)

80g Parmigiano Reggiano (Pecorino would also work brilliantly here)

Handful – Sage leaves

4 cloves – Garlic

4 – Anchovy fillets

50g – Butter

Method:

Bring your water up to a boil and make sure it is heavily salted.

Warm up a large frying pan on a medium to high heat and then put in a decent glug of good olive oil. Add your anchovy fillets and cook until they break down. Add your finely sliced garlic and a good crunch of black pepper. Allow the garlic and pepper to infuse the oil before adding your butter and sage leaves. Whatever you do, don’t burn the garlic…

Bring your pan slightly off the heat and add your pasta to the boiling water. Take some of the starchy pasta water in a mug a pour into the pan (150ml). put the pan back on the heat and mix thoroughly. Now you can add your cheese and again, stir well until the sauce becomes one.

When the pasta is almost cooked, add to the pan and mix thoroughly so that the sauce and the pasta become one dish. If you want to have more sauce, simply add more pasta water, and beat it into the dish. Taste your pasta before serving – it might need some salt, maybe some pepper? Adjust it to your taste.

Serve onto warm plates with a grating of the best Parmesan you can get your hands on