Treasured: Andrew Carmellini's Pasta Tools
Interview and Photos by Melanie Dunea / CPi / My Last Supper
Chef Andrew Carmellini of Locanda Verde, The Dutch and Lafayette: "These are handmade pasta tools that I got when I lived in Italy. There is a shop in Parma that sells and makes all of these. It's not the only store in Italy that sells them, but it's the one I go to. I keep them at Locanda Verde but I don't use them every day. If I was going to make a special kind of dough for white truffle season or something, then I would bust these out. So these would be great when I have my 15-seat trattoria outside Parma, and you come and I make you lunch for two, but for here it's not so practical to use them day to day."
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Andrew Carmellini
"If they break? Oh no, shit! We'll have to go to Italy. I don't even want to know if you can buy these online because I want to have an excuse to go back to Parma, check out some cute girls on bikes, buy some pasta tools and then come back."
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Alternative Uses
"No! These aren't naughty tools! OK, yeah sure, this is for 50 Shades of Grey Pasta. Seriously, we don't use these guys on a day-to-day basis. It's rare if we make gnocchi at the restaurant, because we literally can't keep up with the demand. It takes so long! If I was making gnocchi for tonight from start to finish, by myself, it would take me at least two hours."
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Andrew Carmellini's Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms
Carmellini cooks homemade gnocchi in his own intense mushroom stock, then serves them with porcini butter (blended with garlic, herbs and Parmesan) and white-truffle shavings.
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Andrew Carmellini's Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù
He serves fresh pappardelle with a ragù of house-ground lamb shoulder cooked in lamb stock. He finishes the dish with fresh ricotta and chopped mint.