WHAT IS FOGLIE?

This pasta, made in the shape of olive leaves, is an Apulian dish that has grown in popularity and can now be found throughout Italy. It is occasionally dyed green with vegetables such as spinach.   This allows your dish to have a bit more color then normal in contrast to red tomatoes or yellow and white cheeses.  When making them by hand, it is one of the pasta cuts that requires two fingers to mold.  Yep, that’s it.

WHERE IS FOGLIE MADE?

This is a dish traditionally served in the southern Puglia region of Italy.  It is located in the heel of the Italian penninsula’s “boot.”  This part of the country has over 60 million olive trees decorating the landscape.  So cultural symbols of these stone fruits can be found in this dish of pasta and everywhere else.

FOOD EXPERT’S WIFE TEACHES HIM A LESSON ON COOKING PASTA?

J. Kenji López-Alt in a recent article how he came home one day to find his wife simmering pasta in a small amount of water.  Everyone will tell you that you need a LOT more boiling water then pasta to cook it properly.  And her water was barely simmering.  Long story short this hydration technique works but requires non-stop attention.  To read more about this, click here!

WHAT SAUCES GO WELL WITH THIS PASTA?

Sun dried tomatoes and vegetables pulled fresh from the earth under a beautiful Italian sun are ideal.  But if you’re like me and that isn’t an option, grab some mushrooms, spinach and a few beautiful tomatoes for a nice, simple dish with a bit of color contrast.  If you’d like to see one of our recipes using Foglie d’Ulivo check out our Alfredo sauce recipe!