Pasta matters. And while many Americans are fine with the cheapest boxed spaghetti, Italians (and people who buy or make really good pasta) know that pasta is often the most important component in a dish. While there are many of us out there who seek out expensive, imported pappardelle or pick up fresh selections from our favorite local artisan producers, sometimes it can be a real treat to pass the boring Barilla and add a truly impressive noodle to your cart. (I might not always add guac at Chipotle, but I’ll spend $15 on good dried pasta without batting an eye.) Especially if it’s as good as Sfoglini, the American pasta company founded in Brooklyn in 2012 and run by chef Steve Gonzalez and graphic designer Scott Ketchum; now, the brand operates out of Coxsackie, a small town in the Hudson River Valley.
You might know Sfoglini from seeing it on the shelf at Whole Foods or your local grocery store. Alternatively, if you’re a fan of the immensely popular, James Beard Award-winning food podcast The Sporkful, you probably know that Sfoglini is the brand that helped develop (and now sells) host Dan Pashman’s hard fought original pasta shape, cascatelli. If you haven’t tried Sfoglini’s cascatelli, order some immediately (because it slaps so incredibly hard that you might not ever want to try another new shape). For further context, listen to Pashman’s “Mission: ImPASTAble” series about creating the cascatelli; after being forced to listen to it by my girlfriend, I actually found it thrilling (and I sincerely hate listening to podcasts).
Stumped on what to get a food-loving friend or relative this year? Sfoglini’s Pasta of the Month Club is a genius last-minute pick. It corrals some of their best options alongside recipes for how to best use them. It’s sort of a no-brainer gift for your favorite pasta maniac. The club has two versions: three months for $70 or six months for $135. The Club member gets two boxes of seasonal pasta a month, which could equate to a coveted weekly dinner or one gargantuan feast a month depending on how you ration them (and whether you’re sharing). Then, all that’s left to do is find some great recipes (OMG, maybe there are some Italian cookbooks in here).
Beyond the cascatelli, Sfoglini serves up many delightful pastas, from semolina-based classics like cavatelli, fusilli, reginetti, and rigatoni to creative inventions like beet fusilli, hemp radiators, porcini trumpets, and even sriracha fusilli. Whole and alternative grain options exist as well, like einkorn macaroni, rye trumpets, and whole grain blend trumpets. Whether you’re doing a simple marinara, an arrabbiata, or something truly wild, Sfoglini will have the right shape and blend for you.
As a pasta-head myself, I frequently order pasta from Sfoglini, and am always so, so excited to try its new shapes and flavors—it’s a real treat. I’m positive that any supremely lucky person who receives a membership to this pasta club would be over the moon.
On that note, always remember: When the stars make you drool just like pasta e fasule, that’s amore. But when you received the pasta from a great artisan brand like Sfoglini? Well, that’s just straight up horny.
You can join (or gift) Sfoglini’s Pasta of the Month Club here.
The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.