Italian Flavia Valentini found a kitchen appliance for cutting out pasta dough at a flea market. Like most people in the Emilia-Romagna region, the former nurse and passionate cook has a pasta machine at home to make the dough. She experimented with her flea market find and folded funnel-shaped pasta from the cut-out circles – the "imbutini" were born.
Imbutini pasta – the little funnels
The handmade "funnels" proved to be the perfect choice for coarse, chunky sauces, such as the "Ragù alla Bolognese" from Flavia's home region. This is because the funnel catches the sauce, making the imbutini taste almost like filled pasta. An opening at the tip of the pasta also allows the cooking water to escape so that you don't burn your tongue or water down the sauce. Imbutini therefore not only look original, but also have a practical culinary function
An officially new pasta shape
This practical function is an important prerequisite for a new type of pasta to actually be considered as such. In addition to the shape, pasta types also differ in their surface structure (rough versus smooth) and the dough (fresh egg pasta versus dried durum wheat pasta). The long and smooth spaghetti is suitable for liquid sauces, while pasta with a roughened surface goes better with coarser sauces, as the sauce sticks to it. Spiral and hollow shapes also absorb chunky sauces better; the same applies to fresh versus dried pasta.
A start-up for the Imbutini
Flavia learned from a neighbor that new pasta shapes can be registered and even protected if they actually fulfill a new function. Flavia was successful with her sauce-absorbing funnel shape and the imbutini were officially recognized as a new pasta shape.
Together with an engineer, she has now developed a machine that can produce the imbutini in large quantities. This has resulted in a start-up company called "Sapori in Forma", which produces the imbutini for retailers and restaurants.
Innovative pasta on innovative plates
The intensive study of form and function inspired Flavia to search for the perfect plates for the Imbutini. She found them in the PURITY PEARLS porcelain collection from BAUSCHER. The coup plates leave plenty of room for food presentation and thus motivate chefs to come up with individual creations. For example, in the "Soffi di Vento" restaurant in Flavia's home town of Ozzano dell'Emilia. There, the imbutini are filled with Parmesan foam and served with pea puree, carrot gel and fresh asparagus. A delight not only for the palate, but also for the eye: served on the PURITY PEARLS coup plate in the decorative color champagne, the dish is a real eye-catcher: the dot decoration is reminiscent of fine pearls, and the delicate spring colors of the ingredients perfectly match the subtle decor tone. After all, good pasta is an overall composition of shape, preparation and the right presentation.
Click here for the report - In the kitchen with Flavia Valentini
