"pasta" news and stories

Weary of burgers? Bored by burritos? According to Nation's Restaurant News, "fast-casual" players in New York City and Los Angeles are betting you're ready for something new: quick pasta.

Hello Pasta, which will focus on organic and locally sourced ingredients (including whole grain and gluten-free options), is set to open four locations in the Big Apple -- the first opens tomorrow. (The next three are slated to open over the summer and early fall, at a rate of one per month.)

As the unassuming name hints, Hello Pasta is going for the simple, inexpensive meal; according to Restaurant News, lunch will max out at about ten bucks a head. Laurent Lesort, formerly of Le Bilboquet and Le Charlot (among others), is quoted on the Hello Pasta website: "Our goal is to serve a remarkable product in a modern and clean environment at a low price." Sounds like a promising formula for a lunch joint.

Pasta carbonara, rich with eggs and salty with pancetta or bacon, is also known in some circles as pasta nirvana. And, as made by photographer fotoosvanrobin, above, it's even more lush with fresh tagliatelle, the flat fettucine-like pasta (more real estate for the sauce to cling to). See her recipe here.

For some carbonara lovers, like L.A. food writer Jonathan Gold, there are a few do's and don'ts to the dish. "I hate peas in spaghetti carbonara," Gold says, in his L.A. Weekly column. "Cream is a crime against nature. . . Bacon is usually too sweet and smoky; pancetta is better (although most American pancettas are too hammy for my taste); and the best of all is guanciale, Roman-style cured hog jowl, whose fat has exactly the right pungency for the dish."

In notes to her Kitchen Daily recipe for pasta carbonara, contributor Melissa Roberts seconds Gold's guanciale fix, and adds that, when serving the dish to kids, you should cook the eggs through, for safety. (Kids, by the way, are usually crazy about carbonara. Some apparently even like it for breakfast. Which sounds like breakfast nirvana to this kid.)

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Do you rinse your pasta after you drain it?

No basil at the farmers market yet, and you're jonesing for pesto? Go out on a limb, grab some pea shoots, those delicate, swooping leaves from a pea plant, and get cooking. Walla Walla, Wash.'s laura_pants (whose kitchenilliterate blog chronicles her experiments and screw-ups along with the aha moments) combines pea shoots with spring onions, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and olive oil for a pesto that's all about the season, and serves it with whole-wheat fettucine. (Her recipe comes from the folks at Coconut & Lime.) If you love peas, the intense flavor of these shoots will make you a very happy eater.

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Don't be fooled by its name – these little globes aren't couscous at all.