PASTA PANACHE
Fresh ingredients from rooftop farms and green markets help to create one-of-a-kind pastas at Brooklyn’s Sfoglini pasta shop.
BY MICHELLE FRANZEN MARTIN
A T
Brooklyn’s Sfoglini pasta shop, sauvignon blanc reginetti is made
alongside chili pepper fusilli, porcini trumpets and, of course, tra-
ditional spaghetti, shells and macaroni.
For the company, whose name fittingly means “pasta maker” in Italian,
pasta is a lot like great wine—some Sfoglini varieties pair well with certain
foods, while others are packaged with tasting notes.
CREATIVE VISION
But wine wasn’t the inspiration for Sfoglini, founded in the summer
of 2012 by chef Steve Gonzalez and former creative director and graphic
designer Scott Ketchum. Instead, the reason was simple: New York needed
good, high-quality wholesale and retail pasta.
So Gonzalez, a chef for 14 years, paired up with Ketchum, who traded
his job as a creative director to help start Sfoglini. Together, they do 100 per-
cent of the company’s work, with Gonzalez making the pasta and Ketchum
focusing on the bookkeeping, deliveries and sales. They primarily sell to res-
taurants and retail stores, working out of a former Pfizer building in Brook-
lyn that has become a hub for small-food manufacturers and companies.
TO SAVOR AT HOME
The Mandarin Oriental, New York proudly serves Sfoglini pastas,
in dishes such as this tasty spaghetti you can recreate at home.
RECIPE BY CHEF TONI ROBERTSON
SPAGHETTI WITH WILD MUSHROOMS
& CIPOLLINI ONION – SERVES 4
1 pound fresh Sfoglini spaghetti
6 cipollini onions
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon shredded fresh sage leaves
1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, such as porcini,
cremini and chanterelle, cleaned and sliced
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups vegetable stock
½ cup red wine
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
½ cup freshly grated Grana Padano
“What sets Sfoglini pastas apart is the quality of ingredients we use
combined with the tradition and ingenuity we devote to making our pas-
ta,” says Ketchum, who adds that there are many parallels between art/de-
sign and cooking. “Our original vision was to create primarily handmade
pastas, but we decided to start the business making extruded (machine-
made) pastas that most restaurants in New York City can’t get fresh be-
cause they don’t have the space for the equipment and the staff to produce
these specialty pastas.”
Sfoglini’s pastas are formed by bronze dies that are made in Italy. The
pasta is pushed through the dies, which have small holes that give the pasta
its shape. The bronze dies create a rough, porous surface that sauce can cling
on to, rather than slipping off and pooling at the bottom of the bowl or plate.
“Many larger pasta producers have switched to a bronze die with Tef-
lon inserts, which allows them to produce pasta faster and for longer periods
of time, but Teflon produces a smooth surface to the pasta,” Ketchum says.
“Larger pasta producers also flash dry their pasta, which can burn off a lot
of the flavor and nutrition. We slow dry our pasta over two to three days,
which locks in the flavor and nutrition.”
Method: Place cipollini onions in aluminum foil, sprinkled with sea
salt and olive oil. Close the foil into a paunch, bake in oven at 350 F
for 35 minutes or until soft. Peel and quarter.
Mushroom sauce: Pour the olive oil into the large saute pan and set
over medium high heat. Toss in the garlic and cook until sizzling, then
scatter shredded sage leaves. Add the sliced mushrooms seasoned with
salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat until the
mushrooms are wilted and evaporate almost all the liquid. Remove the
mushrooms and set aside. Deglaze the pan with red wine; add tomato
paste and vegetable stock. Continue simmering until sauce is consistent.
Add mushroom back in the sauce with cipollini onion. Adjust seasoning
with salt and pepper and stir in chopped parsley.
Spaghetti: Heat 6 quarts of salted water to a rolling boil. Add in
fresh spaghetti in the pot, stir well and return to a boil. Check for do-
neness by tasting and cook until al dente (approximately 3 minutes).
Lift out the spaghetti with spider, drain briefly and then drop the
pasta onto the sauce. Toss together until the pasta is fully dressed and
cooked. Turn off the heat and toss in the grated cheese.
MANDARINORIENTAL.COM/NEWYORK 17