Being and Nothingness in Umbria
by Carolynn Carreno
Italians are more likely to have you over for lunch than to meet you for lunch. At least that's the case with Rolando. This is his cacio e pepe. Rolando founded the company Manicaretti, which imports all kinds of fine artisinal goods from Italy, the most well-known of which is Rustichella di Abruzo pasta — you know, the stuff in the pretty brown bags. For this pasta, he used their new primo grano line of pastas, made using grains from the first harvest. It has a subtle wheat flavor and slightly grainy texture that really comes to life in this very simple dish.


