Why Pasta is the New Pizza
Here in the United States pasta is treated more like filler than food. But fresh pasta, which belongs in an entirely different food group than the $.79 supermarket brand, is a delicacy that deserves as much attention and praise as the ingredients poured over it. So when Carolyne stumbled upon a new vendor at the farmer’s market selling artisan pasta and ravioli, she immediately pulled out her wallet. The pasta didn’t disappoint, and when she learned that the company was opening up a permanent location downtown, she went back for more.
Fasta & Ravioli Company is a little tricky to find, tucked in the small alley between Fraser Street and Kelly Alley, behind the parking garage. (You can also find it at the downtown State College Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays and Friday, as well as in the Bellefonte Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.) The owner of the shop, Bob Ricketts, graduated from Penn State two years ago and is now living his dream. His passion for his creations is obvious as he makes it a point to inform his customers on how to perfectly cook and serve his pasta. Following his recommendations, Carolyne prepared her butternut raviolis with a brown butter, garlic and sage sauce with chopped walnuts. The dish (see recipe below) was absolutely sinful–a perfect mélange of fall flavors and melt-in-your-mouth raviolis.
The store, which also carries fresh tomato sauces and marinara, celebrated its grand opening October 7th by handing out more than 200 pounds of free pasta. Ricketts supports local whenever possible, using squash, beets and honey from the downtown market. And he serves all pastas in biodegradable paper mache containers. The site lists an impressive list of varieties, and more are on the way. Unless the product is pizza, businesses don’t seem to stick around too long in this town, so let’s keep this one busy. Ricketts says pizza ravioli is coming soon–sounds like a superior substitute to us.
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter, Sage and Walnuts:
Follow cooking instructions on ravioli package and prepare sauce while pasta is cooking. Heat 3-4 Tbs. of butter over medium heat until it starts to turn brown. Once the sauce starts to turn brown and produce a nutty aroma, turn the burner down to low. Add two cloves chopped garlic and eight fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped. Stir and leave to simmer for one minute. When ravioli is ready, carefully strain and turn gently with sauce. Finish with 2 Tbs. chopped walnuts.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
