Street: What is your ultimate pasta dish? Alexa DePasquale: It’s got to be a dish with some type of red sauce, mushrooms and a meat. Most importantly, I always use pecorino Romano cheese when possible. It's more salty than Parmigiano and complements every dish.
Street: What is your favorite place to get pasta in Philly? AD: Melograno. The Papardelle Tartufate is out of this world. Anything with truffle oil is incredible.
Street: Do you ever make/have you ever made your own pasta? AD: From scratch, no. But I’d really like to. I’ve seen demonstrations and watch the Food Network so I’d like to pretend I would be good at it!
Street: Any special family recipes or dishes? AD: My grandmother makes the most incredible Penne Bolognese. It is nothing extravagant, but I always ate it as a kid and every time we visited her in Florida I would make sure it was on our menu for dinner.
Street: If you were to open an Italian restaurant in Philly, what would you call it? AD: Casa e Cuore meaning Home and Heart. It kind of alludes to the idea that pasta, and Italian cuisine in general, makes me think of family, home–cooked meals and love.
Street: What’s your favorite shape of pasta? Favorite sauce? AD: Angel hair is definitely my favorite. Sauce choice would have to be a Bolognese, preferably with Cinghiale meat, which is wild boar. Even though angel hair is my favorite, I prefer Bolognese sauces with a thicker pasta like Pappardelle or Tagliatelle.
