Exploring the Sweet and Savory: A Journey with Pasta and Cookies

I recently learned that there are 600 pastas in the world. So I decided to go on a pasta journey. I have given myself 30 years to complete this journey, with 20 pastas a year, maybe more. I invite you to join me on this journey as we explore various pastas from around the world.

Every pasta journey begins with one noodle. My pasta journey begins with Trottle (TROH-toh-leh), meaning spinning tops. It is also called Vesuvio. Its origins are from the Campania region of Italy . With its corked screw shape it is meant to resemble Mount Vesuvius, the volcano in Naples, Italy due to its shape it can handle thick sauces, soups and stews

When I decided to start my pasta journey, I wanted to make my own pasta sauce, but I did not want it to be the traditional tomato base sauce or the cream based sauce. I thought of using a root vegetable and using some notes from the mole sauce. Then I got the idea to use roasted cauliflower as the base with notes from the mole sauce like dark chocolate and ancho peppers and a sauce was born. So I picked a night, made the sauce, boiled my pasta, and married them together.

The sauce was thick and I could taste notes of cinnamon, ancho peppers, and dark chocolate, and the mild flavor of roasted cauliflower. The sauce coated the pasta nicely. The Trottle had  a nice chew to it and sort of unraveled in my mouth as I ate it. Trottle is thicker than most pasta’s I normally would eat and definitely very filling. I would do this pasta again. It's a pasta that can handle the thicker sauces. A good pasta to try.

I enjoy baking but cooking is my passion and so for desserts I leave that to Twice as Sweet by Ilianna and Abigail. So along with my pasta journey will be their baking journey which starts below:

My sister and I love cooking and trying new recipes, but we have a special thing for baked treats! Ever since we were little, baking with our nana, we always found joy in baking and eating the delicious treats! Our favorite baked treat is the classic chocolate chip cookie. Anytime the family is craving something sweet, we just whip up a batch. But we also love a challenge in our free time. We enjoy finding new recipes and testing them out together. We love that we can be a part of Nicole Sangillo’s business journey, and we are extremely grateful to her and everyone who enjoys our treats! I am so excited to share our baking journey and insights on how we prepare our baked goods for everyone to enjoy!