Farmer’s Deli just introduced on its online store the hemp and spirulina pasta from PastaMadre, a socially conscious company with true Sicilian roots. PastaMadre uses only 100% certified organic ingredients, from the semolina to the Sicilian durum wheat, which is fairly paid to employees who usually come from challenging backgrounds. PastaMadre is one of the few companies that still use the old bronze drawing, or as affectionately known in Italian trafilatura a bronzo, instead of the more industialised and fast teflon alternative.
The unique micro lesions left through this process, as well as the slow drying technique, give the pasta a rough and porous character which retains sauces and condiments much better.
The hemp pasta comes in 2 varieties - fusilli and tagliatelle - both super tasty, very digestible and rich in vitamins and minerals.
The spirulina pasta is the result of a collaboration with AlgaNatura Sicilia, founded by a small group of friends who discovered the extraordinary nutritional properties of spirulina on a trip to Madagascar and decided to get together with a couple of university research centres to cultivate it in Sicily. Spirulina is one of the oldest forms of life; even the Mayans and Aztecs called it the “food of the Gods” for its properties, such as its iron quantity and how it increases the production of antibodies and helps the body in the production of red blood cells. The spirulina pasta comes in conciglie and tagliatelle versions.
Hemp fusilli salad with creamy basil pesto
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, make the pesto by combining fresh basil leaves, garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, salt and pepper.
Stir in the pesto with the pasta, add chopped cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, rucola and ricotta salata (optional).
Spirulina tagliatelle with kale tomato sauce
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. To make the sauce, start by frying some garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Add fresh tomatoes or one of our organic tomato sauces to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer. Once the sauce has become less liquidy, add in some chopped kale, combine and leave to wilt.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce pan and serve immediately.