Forget substandard pasta – try this new delivery service
You know what I miss? Pasta. Not dried pasta, or the supermarket “fresh pasta” which is somehow worse than the dried stuff. Proper pasta, made by an Italian in a white hat.
Proper pasta is hard. Making it is an art, but one that has correct and incorrect ways of going about it. Everybody knows that pasta should be served “al dente” – literally meaning “to the tooth”, in practice meaning the pasta is firm and springy – for instance, but that’s easier said than done.
There are no gradations of al dente, something cannot be “slightly al dente” or “very al dente”. It is either al dente or you have done it wrong, and the chances are it’s the latter.
The best I’ve had in months was from Sasha Pasta, a subscription service that delivers freshly-made food to your door.
The Islington-based company offers three different choices on each weekly changing menu, with portions ranging from two to six. A weekly subscription costs from £13, with bi-monthly and monthly options also available.
I tried an excellent brisket ragu tortelloni, which took less than five minutes from package to plate. The ragu was rich and delicious and the pasta itself – well that was al dente. It’s the closest you’re going to get to restaurant Italian food for some time and I wholeheartedly recommend you give the service a try.
Other sample dishes include salami, olive and rose harissa tagliatelle; nduja and mozzarella ravioli with a chilli crumb; and mushroom ragu cavalettti.