Walk into your local grocery store, and you’re bound to find a pasta aisle that stretches as far as the eye can see (well, at least to the meat counter, anyway). The bulk of the supermarket pasta, however, is of the mass-produced variety. Enter Katonah Pasta, purveyor of basil linguine, whole-wheat fusilli, and squid-ink pappardelle, among other shape-and-flavor combos; eight-plus varieties of fresh ravioli, manicotti, and tortellini; homemade breads and sauces; and fresh pizza dough. Opened in 2012, Katonah Pasta comes from the owners of Blue Dolphin, Le Fontane, and Bacio Trattoria.
Locals have embraced the tiny shop where you can choose from more than 20 varieties of fresh pasta and observe the process. “Kids love to come in and watch as the pasta is being made,” says manager Maria Abbate. “We have even hosted nursery-school field trips.”
Abbate and the staff are known for all their pasta, but they are exceptionally proud of the ravioli. There’s the classic meat and cheese but also more contemporary varieties, such as kale and pear with Gorgonzola, and seasonal offerings like pumpkin, lamb, lobster, and zucchini flower. Most of the ravioli cost between $11 and $13 a pound.
It’s what goes into the pasta that makes the shop stand out: made fresh daily from a combination of semolina, water, and eggs, with no added preservatives. The spinach pasta is made with fresh, never frozen, spinach, for example.
What’s the most popular pasta? “We have many different shapes that people like, but if you ask the kids who come in, they usually pick the dolphin-shaped pasta.”
