I’ve been a bit preoccupied lately. Ok so I’ve been completely MIA! Sorry about that! I really miss writing but it has had to take a backseat…until now. I am hoping to be back posting, podcasting and editing cooking vids, a couple times a month (each) in the very near future, but for now I’ll let you all in on a little secret.
Adam of Adam Cooks Everything (YouTube) my dear hubby and myself have been working around the clock trying to open a commercial kitchen! Yep! That’s right! We have taken on a lease, invested in ingredients, equipment and have been spending hours in the test kitchen; working with a multitude of flours (some we even grind ourselves) in order to bring to you a new take on an old world favorite…pasta!
Back in November of 2017 we spent some time travelling Italy to discover all their secrets of great fresh pasta, because, let’s face it, no one makes the fresh stuff like the Italians.
Who we are
Adam is the flavour brains of the operation, with years spent in the restaurant industry and then more years trying to make my health food taste decadent (and not like health food) he has a way of turning the most mundane sounding dish into something you want to savour and devour at the same time. Me I love science and baking! Since I was a tiny tot I have loved turning the cupboards odds and ends into delicious baked goods that seem like they should add inches to your waistline. Pasta making is basically baking. As a dough it’s all about the science.
Together we make a pretty awesome team, if I do say so myself, I make the dough while Adam is the creative talent coming up with unique flavour ideas, he makes the sauce, the fillings, the awesome designs. He comes up with a dish and I work out the chemistry of how that will translate into a workable dough.
Test kitchen Phase
Oh wow the ideas that flow from Adam’s head! Chocolate pasta? Are you kidding me? Apparently it’s a thing. Not a thing I would ever want until I sampled the ravioli. Wow! That really worked!
Adam has spent hours in development; wanting a particular flavor he sampled many different cocoa powders in order to hand me the right one. Then I worked it into my classic pasta dough handing it back to him. With a basic cannoli filling and an amazing coconut based caramel sauce Adam created what I thought an impossible task.
What else is he working on? Corned beef and caramelized onion ravioli topped with a mustard sauce, Paleo pasta cups, dairy free mac and cheese, butter chicken lasagna made with chickpea noodles…. Other flavoured noodles, so good, you don’t want to cover them with sauce!
I have been working with black rice, brown rice, cassava, corn, beans and a few more unique flours in order to get a gluten free, nut free, in some cases paleo pasta that mimic the classic so closely that an old Italian Mama would ask for more 🙂
Why the name NUDL Artisan Pasta?
We wanted something different yet simple with the name. Something that said what it was without creating a preconceived notion of old world Italian or of mainstream Asian noodles. We are different! At NUDL we use alternative flours to create textures and flavours that speak for itself. NUDL’s that fit a multitude of applications be it an Asian spin with Adam’s lemongrass chicken ravioli’s or an Indian flair with my chickpea pasta (FIY it was delicious served with a vegetable korma). We aim to please and are open to any and all suggestions. A month ago someone asked if we would have anything paleo, so I jumped into the research, we sourced some cassava and now have what has turned out to be my fav, a paleo friendly cassava flour pasta, low on carbs, gluten free and delicious!
Where can you find NUDL’s
This has not fully been worked out. We have a very small (Adam calls it a nook) of a shop at our kitchen located in Breslau, Ontario which will be open to the public Saturday’s and Sunday’s beginning in July. Nudl’s will be sold through a wide range of retail stores and we are planning to offer our pasta’s through local restaurants. Custom orders are highly encouraged and can be picked up at the shop in Breslau on weekends or another designated time.
You can also find us at some local events throughout the summer. The first official event be will the Taste Real Food Fest in Guelph on Sunday, June 24. Learn more about it here.
We have a grand opening slatted for mid-July which will include pasta demonstrations, sampling, food trucks and more. Check out the NUDL.ca website for opening times, to stay up-to-date on events and other information.
I am so excited to be starting this new venture I hope to meet some of you in person very soon!
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