Home is where the pasta is

The hand-rolled pasta comes with red pomodoro sauce

The lockdown has made us appreciate one-on-one meet-ups, deeper conversations and the space to open up. We had a friend for dinner, and over a glass of white, we reminisced about restaurant outing days. The incessant buzz, the chatter, the eyeing other tables to figure what dish has been ordered and the collective, staged, organised chaos. After chips and dip, dinner is rustled up, courtesy a DIY pasta kit by Wonder Foods and Farms that launched a sauces line, including makhani, malawani, cafreal, Italian pomodoro and alfredo, in October last year. The line was created by Mayuree Rao, who grows some of the ingredients on her farm, called Nivaant, in Karjat.

We had tried her products then and this time, we received a hand-rolled pasta box, along with a 300 ml jar of red pomodoro sauce, and sachets of chilli flakes and oregano. The pasta was top-notch quality. However, we ended up scrambling for boiling instructions and after a Google search, we learnt that it would require one to five minutes to cook al dente. This should have been mentioned on the box, to make for an easy ride.

With the jar emptied into a pan, we let the sauce heat a bit before adding the drained pasta, and mixing in the herbs and chilli flakes. We would have liked it if the kit had instructions on how to work with the hand-rolled pasta. But something was amiss. "Cheese!" said the friend, and a chunk of Amul cheese was grated in quick time. The entire sojourn took us under 10 minutes. Mamma Mia!

The virtual restaurant ambiance was created, thanks to a lilting Italian patio background score from YouTube. It lifted our moods, as we clinked our glasses and tucked into the pasta. For the price, while the quantity was superb, we would have also preferred some cheese - parmesan, maybe.

Log on to: @wonderfoodsandfarms on Instagram
Cost: Rs 649 (serves two)

Vegan cheese hamper
Chef Raveena Taurani, of Yogisattva had sent us a DIY recipe kit featuring her new vegan cheese range. The box includes organic heirloom tomatoes (from farm2fam) and gluten-free edamame fettuccine. While it was a healthy take on the baked feta pasta trend, we made a satiating version in a pan.
Call: 9867455009 (available on pre-order)
Cost: Rs 1,500 (serves one)