For The Love of Carbs!

It is a thing of beauty, a pleasure to the palette and well, perhaps everyone’s favorite four letter word – CARB! If you love your carbs as much as we do, then you are sure to love what some refer to as “The best pasta made in America” – Pappardelle’s! We recently started carrying the line of flavorful pasta and it is already flying off the shelves. What sets it apart is the amazing assortment of flavors, texture, and we do love that it is about as homegrown as it gets.

Before we dive in any further, if you are wondering where the name comes from we did too, so thought we’d share. According to Wikipedia here is what we discovered: Pappardelle (sg.: pappardella) are large, very broad flat pasta noodles, similar to wide fettuccine. The name derives from the verb “pappare”, to gobble up. While we haven’t confirmed that this is where the name came from, we are willing to bet it is pretty spot on!

David Bowen and Bill Curtis founded Pappardelle’s in Denver on May 14, 1984. They set out to create an array of flavors never before experienced by Americans. What’s more, they wanted to recreate the traditional Italian pasta making methods: fresh, high-quality ingredients and small batches. This once “little” Denver pasta purveyor is now in over 200 farmer’s markets and is quickly catching on at some of the top restaurants in the U.S.

We’ve mentioned the amazing selection of flavors a couple of times. If you are skeptic, check out the options ranging from orzo to sea shells and more. Here they are: lemon garlic orzo, southwest orzo, supreme orzo, spinach garlic fettuccine, basil garlic fettuccine, tomato basil fettuccine, lemon basil fettuccine, lemon chive angel hair, garlic chive pappardelle, tomato basil penne, garlic chive sea shells, porcini mushroom linguini and lime cilantro linguini.

In reading about the company, it is pretty funny how far their “never say no” mentality reaches. As part of their will to keep up with customer’s requests, it helped spur the number of flavors they now provide. One of their examples of this occurred when they started making ravioli. The chef at Cheyenne Mountain Resort near Colorado Springs asked if Pappardelle’s had a chocolate dessert ravioli. Without missing a beat, Bill said “Sure, how many and when do you want them?”

“It’s for a wedding next week,” the chef replied. “I’ll take 3,500 ravioli pieces.”

(We can’t say we’ve ever heard of chocolate ravioli, let alone a request for that many in such a short time period.) Nonetheless, Bill and David rose to the occasion. Without a recipe or the equipment needed to make ravioli, their parents helped them hand make their first ravioli order.

You might also find their preparation process interesting. …As a way of preserving traditional Italian methods of pasta preparation, they slow-dry all of their pasta and “tease” the water out of it over a 24-48 hour timeframe. …We were a bit surprised to read that it takes one of their pasta makers well over a year to hone his or her skills and become a master dough maker.

Another noteworthy differentiator can be found in their ingredients. Although flour is made out of wheat, it can vary wildly — not only nutritional content, but also flavor and overall integrity. Pasta made with all-purpose or bleached flours are inferior. Pasta made with a combination of all-purpose flour and semolina durum wheat are only slightly better. Only pure durum semolina flour produces high-quality pasta. Naturally, this is the type of flour that Pappardelle’s uses in all of their pasta.

Additionally, the “flavorings” used in their pasta are sourced from the industry’s highest quality producers. They do not use preservatives or unnatural flavorings. Everything is natural.

We mentioned above that their pasta is served at some of the top restaurants in the U.S. It was also served at a White House State Dinner, and if you still aren’t convinced it is special then perhaps the ultimate Italian critic will confirm how good the pasta is. Who, you might ask? Try The Pope himself! Yes, he had some while in Denver for an event and was a big fan.

Don’t take our word for it; you can be the judge of just how delicious their pasta is. Pappardelle’s mission sums it all up. …The relentless pursuit of perfect pasta!