ottawa foodies

OK Let's ring in on Pasta.

Dried - Cheapest, long storage, wide variety

Frozen - Second cheapest, hard to take on a canoe trip, usually just the stuffed kind e.g. ravioli


Fresh - Most expensive, does not keep long, cool combinations e.g. mezzaloona with chevre and caper berries ;-)

How about you fellow foodies ? Where do you stand on pasta ? Your favs ? Is whole wheat really all that better ? Is tri color a gimmick ? etc. etc.

First: Tri color is tacky.

Second: Dried pasta and fresh pasta both have a time and place.

Third: Frozen pasta? Never. More often than not, it's semi-freezer burnt, which lends to an extremely odd, inconsistent texture. Also, depending on how it was frozen and stored, sometimes the pasta takes on too much water during the process and results in a mushy disgusting paste-a (ha ha... ha, not punny!)

re: frozen pasta

Costco used to sell really good frozen cheese tortellini. A giant bag for around ten bucks. They still sell something like it, but the brand has changed and quality took a dive.

re: whole wheat pasta

It does have more fiber and if you choose something thin (like spaghettini) it isn't hard to take at all. Fantastic with a rustic tomato sauce.

re: dried pasta

The amazing thing is how different dried pasta can be. Here's my ranking of texture and flavour of some popular brands, from best to worst:

* Barilla
* President's Choice
* Italpasta
* No Name / Catelli / Lancia

These are pretty much in descending order of price, although Italpasta might be cheaper than the inferior name brands. Another fun thing to do is go to Nicastro's and browse all their pasta (Buitoni is good - brand owned by Nestle).

Also, if you want top-notch egg noodles, look for the "Bechtle" brand, available at specialty stores like the European Deli on Merivale. Loblaws sometimes carries the thin Bechtle egg noodles but not the really great broad ones.

Favourite shapes - I'm partial to elbow macaroni (maccheroni), penne, radiatore, rotini, rigatoni, ziti, etc.

i found dried tortellini before, stuffed with hard cheese. it is great for camping, just toss it with a little oil, garlic and grate some hard pecorino cheese on it (pecorino travels well when camping!).

i have taken a number of cooking classes at la bottega and was turned onto a wide range of dried pasta. now when i buy dried, i make sure it is made from durum semolina and nothing else. barilla is a common brand that is made this way.

hate high fibre and whole wheat pastas. the change the flavour of the sauce!

and param ravioli has great frozen pasta.

and then theres homemade pasta, lasagna is just infinitely better with homemade pasta and you don't have to blanch it. And then theres spaetzle which is technically pasta and is so quick and easy. For special occasions it is worth splashing out for the artisanal Italian pastas made from semolina they have a wonderful texture. Oh yeah and what about homemade gnocchi so good on a cold fall day and fun to make with your kids.

I've had some decent dried pasta but you definitely have to look for pastas made with durum semolina. I usually eat whole wheat pastas and usually the finer noodles usually spaghettini although the Catelli Healthy Harvest whole wheat linguine is good. As for fresh pasta Parma Ravioli is hands down my favourite place! Luciano's is pretty good too although I find the noodles a little more rubbery than Parma but that's just my observations. Although the Luciano's sauces are a little more flavourful than Parma. I tried some frozen pasta once - cheese stuffed tortellini Nicastro's brand - and they were a little on the freezer burned size and a little rubbery when cooked. I won't be in a hurry to buy frozen pasta again. Although Nicastro's sells good fresh pasta and their eggplant lasagna is to die for!

Fresh Foodie how far up Merivale is the European Deli?... I am planning a shopping trip there next month but usually do the stretch between Meadowlands and Hunt Club. (Gotta squeeze in a trip to Nicastro's, Dollarama, and Costco- my favourite stores!)

European Deli is at Capilano Rd, just north of Emerald Plaza. The Location link here should help: European Delicatessen

I'm looking forward to going there in a month or so to stock up on Lebkuchen for the Christmas season! I'm expecting my kids to love Lebkuchen, since they go nuts over those "Sasha" cinnamon and ginger heart-cookies you see all over the place now.

Mmmmm, Lebkuchen. I've got a good recipe I'll have to dig out that I got from a friend in Bavaria

I agree with some that it's sort of dependent on what you're having. It's just not reasonable I think most times, to use fresh unless it's a dish that is truly better that way (lassagna, spaetzle etc) wrt the time to make fresh vs dry. I'm not sure I could give up my favourite noodle, which is a dry noodle. I've forgotten the brand, but it's an organic based Soba noodel sold at Herb & Spice. The brand has many variations on the Soba theme.. buckwheat, durum semolina, rye and mixes. Mmmm.. Soba noodles...

Giant Tiger has some really good dried tortellini with REAL ingredients!

We stopped buying fresh mainly for storage reasons. Dried is far more versatile. We still buy frozen from Parma Ravioli because it's fresh-frozen and really cheap for what you get (half price of fresh unfrozen)

I agree about storing fresh pasta - I usually buy just enough to have for dinner that evening and wouldn't keep it for longer. It sure is handy to have dried pasta in the pantry so it's handy to have when I get the hankering for it. Yet I totally forgot to add soba noodles to my list (thanks P-i-H!). I usually get them in those little purple packages that are available pretty well everywhere in chinatown. Vermicelli noodles are also great with beef or chicken teriyaki.

Hehe.. sure it was an innocent slip, but I am not Pete-is-Hot (P-i-H) but Pete-In-Ottawa (P-i-O)... That damn Sigmund... There is only one 'i-H' on the site, and she is definitely NOT in Ottawa anymore ;-)

hehehe I guess I have jittery finger from all the coffee I drank today! Yes it was an innocent slip and thanks for tackfully pointing it out.

I have to admit that I saw and understood the slip-up as a likely typo, but for entertainment reasons opted not to correct it. :-)

...am I expected to do an encore?....

Thanks for reminding everyone that I'm not a true "Ottawa Foodie" anymore lol. Anyone insterested in what I'm doing now in Regina? I have job already in a very interesting kitchen. I'm not vain enough to think anyone is interested - but if you are I can give you the low-down lol.

I'm a fan of DeCecco and Barilla... not to detract from F-i-H talk ;)

I to like De Cecco.

I tried the $7/pkg stuff and did not find it all that much better.

I like to stock up when it goes on sale.

www.dececco.it/EN/

I only get WW pasta, unless I'm getting some Mac and Cheese in a box for the preschooler. I do wish more shapes were available - like orzo, for instance. I get tired of macaroni, linguini, spaghetti, bowties and rotini...

Since this thread was started, there's PC Black label pasta that I really enjoy. I like the Fiorelli shape and texture.

The PC Black label is good but expensive. I tried Garofalo yesterday almost as good and a lot cheaper. One to avoid was LaPasta artigianale bought at Loblaws right underneath where they have the Black label stuff. Comes in a clear bag with a string around it tied in a bow. It fell apart when cooked and the full ones were gummy. At almost $6 for 500g very bad buy. Ital pasta good for the price when it goes on sale.

When I started making pasta I was watching Biba on pbs.
Her opinion was that if you couldn't make your own don't bother with the fresh pasta. the dried was better and less expensive.

My sisters and I do a ravioli day once a year making lots of raviolis to eat and freeze for later. it's a good family day.

Good dried pasta for me... al-dente just isn't the same with fresh.
(never had frozen)

As was posted at the beginning of this thread, whether you use fresh or dried has a lot to do with the type of sauce you are planning to serve with it just as the use of different shapes depends on the sauce. Personally, I usually use dried pasta and stick with the Italian brands that I pick up at Farmer's Pick. I will buy frozen stuffed pastas like ravioli or tortellini at Parma Ravioli to have on hand.

There is no better dried pasta than Rusticella d'Abruzzo (sp?).

Rustichella d'Abruzzo

How much more than the $2.59 (non sale) price of DeCecco is it ?

Does it ever go on sale ?

Dried most of the time.

I buy Cav. Guiseppe Cocco - from Abruzzo at Farm Boy.

Snoopy - where can you buy Rusticella d'Abruzzo?

Who carries Rustichella d'Abruzzo?

Normally around 4or5 dollars for a 400 g bag. Can find it any specialty Italian food store or in Loblaws close to the black label pasta.