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Basic pasta consists of flour, eggs, a pinch of salt and
sometimes water. There are, however, countless varieties of noodles
to choose from when creating a dish—so much more than American
standards of macaroni, elbows and spaghetti. It is up to chefs to
be creative, and to capture the palates of seasoned diners.
To ensure patrons’ satisfaction, pairing
the sauce or filling to the size and shape of the pasta being served
is crucial. StarChefs.com has compiled recipes for some of the best
pasta dishes its editors have tasted around the country. These chefs
highlight the versatility of an ancient dietary staple.
Cavatelli is a typical pasta from southern
Italy, shaped like small ripple-edged shells or bullets. Braised
Oxtail Cavatelli with Butternut Squash, Fancy Mushrooms and White
Truffle Butter from Chef Keith Pooler of Harvest in
Cambridge, MA is total comfort food. When creating a dish, Chef
Pooler first thinks of the ingredient he wants to accent, and designs
the rest of the dish around accenting it. “I like cavatelli
because it has more bite than gnocchi and other sheeted pastas.”
One of Harvest’s signature dishes, the braised oxtail, has
a richness that makes it a perfect winter meal characterized by
a “stick to your ribs quality without being cloying.”
 Chef
Francesco Schintu of Zeffirino at The Venetian in Las Vegas
has an unusual style when it comes to pasta. He adds cocoa powder,
black truffle paste and Kahlua liquor to the dough before rolling
out lasagna sheets for Chocolate
Lasagna with Pesto. Rose petals and Marsala wine are incorporated
into the dough for Chef Schintu’s Rose
Petal Ravioli with Ricotta and Shrimp. Stuffed with watercress
and mint, this dish adds an herbal element to a more traditional
Italian shrimp-based sauce.
Chef Giancarla Bodoni of Escopazzo Ristorante Italiano
in Miami Beach takes a homier approach to ravioli than Chef Schinto,
blending classic and contemporary Italian flavors. Her ultra smooth
Pumpkin
and Amaretto Ravioli is accented by a fine vegetable brunoise
and truffle-infused cream sauce. The paper thin ravioli pasta highlights
the delicacy of its nutty filling.
 Agnolotti,
pronounced “anyeeolottee,” are small stuffed pasta sealed
to form a half circle. Recently named Rising Star Chef, Jason Travi
of La Terza in Los Angeles stuffs his Agnolotti
with Veal Osso Buco. The braised veal is a heady stuffing for
this “baby ravioli” and is enough to hold its own with
an uncomplicated but delicious dressing of butter and fresh oregano.
Tortelli is a very traditional pasta in Modena, north of Tuscany
where it is typically filled with pumpkin in a brown butter and
sage sauce. For winter fare, Chef Adam Halberg of Via Matta
in Boston made the dish heartier by stuffing this larger version
of tortellini with braised duck and mascarpone cheese, complimented
by larger bits of pulled duck meat in the rich sauce. In his Duck
Tortelli with Squash and Rosemary, Chef Halberg incorporates
squash into the sauce instead of in the pasta’s filling. Crisp
parsley leaves balance the sweetness of this dish.
 Chef
Halberg spotlights his use of trenette pasta, pronounced “traynaytay,”
with Sweet
Maine Shrimp and Oregano Pesto. Trenette pasta is famous in
Liguria, west of Tuscany. Similar to linguine pasta, trenette look
like flat spaghetti, and are traditionally served with pesto. In
this distinctly modern interpretation, Chef Halberg adds shrimp
and milled tomatoes to the stock, and fresh herbs of oregano, parsley
and mint to the pesto. He fondly recalls the first time Star Chef
Michael Schlow, under whom he cooks at Via Matta, watched him make
this dish. After declining a sample to taste, Chef Schlow explained,
“I already know what it tastes like. I can smell it. It tastes
like Italy.”
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