The Yorkshire Pasta Company offers ‘pasta nothing like you find on supermarket shelves’. The brand is a small family firm, sold in over 450 independent shops and restaurants (even the Italians rave about it!) Made in 2 days (not 2 hours) to allow flavours to develop, each piece has a rough surface to cling to sauce, and is made with locally-grown wheat (helping to support 169 small farms).
It mixes flour with cold water to produce a slow-dried pasta that is passed through bronze dies (the main brands use Teflon). It’s sold in paper packaging with metal eyelets (both easily recycled), and has a low carbon footprint, due to zero food miles. The little food waste produced is fed to happy cows!
England now has quite a few brands of locally-grown pasta, made using wheat or spelt. In stores, pasta brands in plastic-free packaging include Mr Organic and Suma. Both use organic wheat (the latter produced by an Italian farming co-operative that uses clean energy, with 8 pasta types (and ‘oat pasta).
Simply cook in boiling salted water (unless you have medical conditions). In Italy, not using salt to cook pasta is called ‘silly pasta!’ Then serve with vegetables and your favourite sauce and vegan Parmesan (conventional Parmesan is not even vegetarian, as it contains calf rennet).
For recipes, read up on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen (many ‘human foods’ are unsafe near animal friends – including salt, onion, garlic, spices & fresh dough if making homemade pasta).
bronze-cut spelt pasta (from Cumbria)
Northern Pasta (Cumbria) is an award-winning brand of spelt pasta that is homegrown from local crops. Spelt is not gluten-free, but an ancient relative of wheat that is easier on the digestive system. Again this is bronze-cut to ensure a rough surface that clings to your pasta sauce. Sold in plastic-free packaging, this brand is supporting local farmers, while using traditional Italian methods to create fine artisan food. Founded by a husband-and-wife, this small firm also supports regenerative farming methods to grow the spelt.
Sold in 6 shapes, unlike supermarket pastas (which often is bright yellow due to drying at high temperatures that burns the starch, their pasta is slow-dried and retains nutrition, but also makes it easier to digest, especially due to being made from spelt. If you suffer bloating or fatigue after eating pasta, try this brand instead!
bronze-cut organic pasta (from Cornwall)
Cornwall Pasta Co is an organic brand of pasta, that uses bronze-cut methods to ensure a rough surface that clings to sauce. Sold in biodegradable packaging (even the ‘plastic window’, this brand is also supporting local farmers and regenerative farming. Created by a professional chef, this is quite a gourmet range, with unique flavours such as pastas made with beetroot, wild garlic, chilli pepper and saffron.
