Pasta Parade: Fresh Pasta Through a Houston Lens
A homemade pasta dish has the power to take us back to our childhood kitchen or the shoulder-high herb garden in grandma’s backyard. Perhaps it’s the lure of three simple ingredients — flour, eggs and water — becoming more than the sum of their parts, especially when personalities, histories and cheeses are folded in as well. It’s a craving that can prompt you to get in your car and go to any corner of Houston to satisfy it.
If you’re not concerned with carbs or commuting, Houston yields ample opportunities to try such dishes. Living in a diverse culinary landscape, our pasta options vary from the trusted institutions serving traditional classics to so-new-it’s-a-secret spots offering modern, and, dare I say, delightfully strange interpretations. Or you can recreate these moments in your own kitchen by sourcing from the handful of Houston artisans making fresh, handmade pasta.
Restaurants Serving Fresh Pastas
For a no-reservation-required experience, Paulie’s is a Montrose favorite for comfort food that’s discerningly Italian. In 2007, the restaurant was passed down to the person behind the name, Paul Petronella. Inspired by his parents, who started the eatery in 1998, he elevated the offerings and added fresh pasta that's made daily. Petronella trail blazed by acquiring one of Houston’s first bronze-die pasta extruders. Today the Paulie’s menu features creste di gallo, canestri, rigatoni, spaghetti and bucatini, all made in-house. Try the bucatini puttanesca or rigatoni bolognese, followed by a shot of espresso and a locally famous, seasonally decorated shortbread cookie.
Further north, Via Emilia has become a go-to for residents of The Woodlands seeking scratch-made penne, pappardelle, stuffed pastas, lasagna, linguine and spaghetti. In the fall, locals fawn over the pumpkin ricotta ravioli carousing in sage brown butter. Elda Orioli, the 88-year-old matriarch of Via Emilia who is affectionately called Nona, insists on making her pastas by hand. She puts on an apron five days a week to make pasta in-house and ensure her family’s traditions are being followed. If you ever wished you had an Italian grandmother, perhaps Via Emilia can fill that vacancy.
Ghost Hand Pasta, found by way of popups, takes a playful approach to handmade pasta. Head chef Scott Ache, who learned the make-it yourself mindset from his Italian grandmother, finds inspiration for his creations in his collection of horror movies. Ache captured the attention of Houstonians with creatively themed dishes, such as That Scene from the Exorcist — a squid ink tortellini filled with whipped mortadella, tossed in a split pea butter, and finished with crushed wasabi peas, mint and a Calabrian chili crema. Ghost Hand can currently be found at Bad Astronaut Brewing Company, where there’s no shortage of campy movie references.
Tucked away in Eastwood, and new to the scene, is Mimo. Sommelier Mike Sammons and chef Fernando Rios (alumni of Weights + Measures and Da Marco) are showcasing their take on handmade pasta, which is buttoned up and approachable at the same time. Chef Rios mastered pasta by first learning the why — why use a certain shape or why dried vs. fresh, etc. He believes that handmade pasta is about instinct and feel and gets a little romantic about his gnocchi. According to Rios, gnocchi should be pillow-like with a whisper of a finger imprint and soft ripples. Mimo’s classic version with marinara, Parmigiano Reggiano and basil is exactly that. If you’re lucky, you might be seated in the record room, which acts like a chef’s table, complete with a view of the swinging kitchen doors and a vintage vinyl collection to thumb through.
At Coltivare, the Heights’ go-to Italian spot, chef Ryan Pera’s vision stems from the onsite garden and other sources close to home. “Eat where you live,” Pera says. Coltivare’s rustic Italian dishes gracefully express the area’s seasonality. One of those seasonal expressions is the rabbit ragù with housemade pappardelle. Another is the fresh ravioli filled with Mozzarella Company ricotta and local pumpkin that's roasted in Coltivare’s wood-burning oven. Pair one of those with a salad featuring local vegetables and you may briefly feel like a garden patio in Houston is an unexplored region of Italy.
The Artisans Making and Selling Fresh Pastas
Intimidating as these beloved dishes may seem, fresh pasta is simple and does a wonderful job of speaking for itself with the addition of only a few ingredients. Plus, these area vendors selling handmade pastas make recreating the dish you fell in love with much less daunting. They may even swap recipes with you.
MMH Provisions, a husband-and-wife team, currently offer a variety of handmade fettuccines at area farmers markets. Chef Michael Hartley and Miriam Leek-Meira share a background in fine dining, a dedication to scratch-made and represent a classic tale of restaurant romance. The couple met while working at Brasserie 19, fell in love, quit their jobs and started MMH Provisions after buying a stand mixer on a whim. Having spent summers in Brazil as a kid, Leek-Meira brings a touch of her Portuguese roots to MMH. While chef Hartley says he “grew up at his mom’s hip,” where the love of scratch-made cooking was instilled at a very young age.
They focus on perfecting the balance of bite and texture in their pastas. MMH sources locally and does most of their shopping with neighboring vendors. Their squid ink fettuccine is a nice choice when just a hint of umami is fitting. It’s commonly paired with seafood, but you can break the rules and use it in Asian-inspired dishes — it is after all your kitchen. Squid ink and roasted garlic fettuccines are among the favorites at the farmers markets, but their classic fettuccine shines with the simplest of ingredients. MMH Provisions also sells breads and sauces and those, along with their pasta, reflect their travels and love of good food.
DellaCasa Pasta makes quintessential fresh pasta with simplicity and clean ingredients at the forefront. Luisa Obando, the one-woman show who founded the company in 2011, emigrated from Columbia 23 years ago with her two young children, and experienced food culture shock. She vowed to make all-natural fresh pasta without any artificial ingredients, preservatives or dyes, just durum semolina and fresh eggs.
The spinach fettuccine and jalapeño fettuccine are among the most popular varieties and pair well with her scratch-made alfredo sauce. DellaCasa’s bolognese sauce is an old family recipe that requires all hands on deck when it’s prepared. She genuinely loves making it. Obando positions her prized creste di gallo as her kid-friendly option and is ideal for mac and cheese.
DellaCasa has evolved over the last few years into mostly wholesale, delivering to over 150 restaurants in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. Her pastas are so well received by chefs in Texas, chances are you have enjoyed Obando’s handy work. Her dream of having a retail shop, pasta school and counter service is in the works.
As you journey through this pasta crawl, you’re taking home not only delicious pasta but also the experience of the maker’s travels and what they learned by doing.
