Page 28 - The Valley Table - Winter 2022

26 the valley table
dec 2021 – feb 2022
PHOTOS BY MEGHAN SPIRO PHOTOGRAPHY
“Pasta is always in season! While
I was growing up in Italy, we made richer sauces in winter—more butter, more cheese, more olive oil,” says Chef Francesco Buitoni, of the famous Buitoni family, who co-owns Tivoli’s bustling GioBatta restaurant.
Over the last year, with the pandemic keeping us stressed out
and shut in, the appeal of this classic comfort food has only risen. Scott Rosenberg, chef and owner of Il Figlio Enoteca in Fishkill, says he is seeing a marked increase in "comfort style pasta and an eagerness to eat carbs again. People were shying away from pasta for so long because they thought it was too indulgent, but homemade pasta is such a treat!" At Il Figlio, 75 percent of the pasta is homemade and Rosenberg recommends half orders of pasta for an appetizer to cut down on the richness and leave room to try other entrees.
This season—as we’re once again able to venture out and explore new tastes, retailers, and restaurants—is the time to rediscover pasta in all its forms and see how it’s changing to keep pace with our ever-changing palates.
Going with the Grain
Pasta can be traced back to the 4th century B.C.; an Etruscan tomb from that era depicts a group of people passing around a bowl of what appears to be a tangle of noodles. It’s no wonder this amazing food has survived for millennia. At its most basic, pasta
is just flour and water. And although there’s a beautiful simplicity to organic Hudson Valley wheat, people are always looking for the next new thing.
Typically, pasta is made from semolina, a coarse durum wheat flour that’s rich in protein and fiber, but ancient grains are gaining popularity. At Sfoglini, emmer—a grain that’s over 17,000 years old—is blended in with semolina for a nutty taste. Einkorn (only 10,000 years old) is another add- in with a payoff of enriched protein, essential fatty acids, and vitamins. Hemp flour, high in omega 3s, is weaving its way into noodles (while the taste is dreamy, there’s no trippy THC involved). With their deeper flavors, these new pastas hold their own beautifully against your heartiest winter ragu.
No Gluten, No Eggs
Chefs are also tweaking pasta to make sure it doesn’t get lost in the sauce as our desire for healthier options evolve. “Free-from” eating— which translates into food stripped
of additives and allergens—is an undeniable trend, with 63 percent
of consumers saying they try to eat healthy most or all the time, according to a survey about indulgent food trends by L.E.K. Consulting.
We’ve seen the gluten-free movement growing as more and more people opt to avoid wheat and the potential digestive problems it can trigger. Gluten-free pasta is officially
a thing, both on supermarket shelves and in restaurants. “It’s here to stay,” opines Ketchum, though Sfoglini