Orecchiette With Shredded Brussels Sprouts. Photo credit: Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post
During the first pandemic lockdown in 2020, Ed Barrow fell in love. "Like I’m sure a lot of people kind of did, you know,” he told me in a Zoom interview from his home in the southwest England city of Bristol. He wasn’t talking about a romantic relationship, but a dive into the sort of immersive hobby that occupied so many of us during day after housebound day.
In Barrow’s case, the objects of his affection were an appliance his parents had given him almost a decade earlier and the food it could help him make: fresh pasta. Barrow had worked as a pastry chef and bread baker until last year, and he sees a tight connection between the two hands-on disciplines. As he puts it, "You need to feel everything properly.”
Almost five years and tens of thousands of Instagram followers later, pasta has become Barrow’s brand. The 25-year-old turned his posts featuring a new pasta dish every week into a community that became a supper club that became a private dinner business that became, most recently, a cookbook. "I never really thought it would have gone this far,” he said.
Shredding Brussels sprouts. Photo credit: Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post
While his inspiration began with handmade pasta, Barrow mostly uses store-bought dried versions at home, and that’s what he focuses on in "The Monday Pasta Club.” That’s partly a commitment to ease and accessibility, but also an appreciation for just how high-quality dried pasta can be, especially when imported from Italy and cut with bronze die that give the surface sauce-grabbing texture. In Barrow’s hands, from those boxes spring such creations as roasted leek and Gorgonzola cannoli, caramelized shallot tagliatelle, and braised courgette (zucchini), mint and mascarpone paccheri.
Barrow pays tribute to classic Italian recipes, but he also loves going off-script, knowing that it might run the risk of getting him into hot water with purists. Nonetheless, he understands their motivation. "Because so many countries have taken Italian cooking and either done their complete spin on it or just over the years, the recipes and dishes have developed and changed, I can see why Italians want to hold recipes quite close to them and not let that happen,” he said. "But without people kind of spinning recipes and playing with them, nothing new will ever be discovered and created.”
"The Monday Pasta Club” is not vegetarian, but many of the recipes are, reflecting just how naturally Italian cooking embraces vegetables. In fact, his monthly Bristol Pasta Club, a pop-up in a coffee shop, is exclusively vegetarian - without advertising itself that way. The way Barrow sees it, customers don’t seem to notice, or perhaps care, because pasta itself is so satisfying that nothing seems to be missing when he’s pairing, say, rigatoni with charred eggplant or - in the case of the recipe I’m sharing here - orecchiette with Brussels sprouts.
I love Brussels sprouts, but when I tried that recipe, it was the first time I’ve ever considered them luxurious, even a little indulgent. That, no doubt, has something to do with the generous amounts of cream and butter and cheese. (Turns out, it’s just as indulgent-tasting when veganized with coconut milk and nondairy butter and parmesan.) The dish stemmed from his favorite way of cooking the sprouts - which he called "one of the very few vegetables we can produce so well locally here in the U.K.” - and then turning them saucy.
Does he ever tire of pasta? Well, it takes a lot, but every now and then he gets there. Last year, he traveled to Italy for the first time, staying for a month, and before he went he enacted a three-week moratorium on pasta, just to prepare for the onslaught ahead.
The wait was worth it. Barrow and his partner had more than their fill, and he came away as inspired as ever about the seemingly limitless bounds of the genre. Even after immersing himself in the subject for five years, he is frequently surprised by "just the sheer number of techniques there are in Italian pasta cooking.”
One day, he said, he’ll branch out to explore other cuisines’ noodles, such as the vast and delicious array found in Asian cooking. But for now, "I still don’t know half of what I’d like to know about Italian pasta.”
As Barrow keeps learning, he intends to keep sharing; this year’s focus will bring him full circle, back to that 12-year-old playing with a pasta machine for the first time. He plans online classes to teach others the glories - and secrets - of getting your hands dirty and making it fresh.
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Orecchiette With Shredded Brussels Sprouts
This pasta dish turns Brussels sprouts - shredded and cooked with a generous amount of butter, nutmeg and sage - into something almost decadent. In testing, this recipe produced outstanding results whether vegetarian or vegan, so both options are listed in the ingredients.
Servings: 2-3 (makes about 4 1/2 cups)
Total time: 35 minutes
Substitutions: Orecchiette >> fusilli or farfalle. Brussels sprouts >> green cabbage. To make it spicier >> increase the red pepper flakes to 1/2 or 1 teaspoon, depending on your heat tolerance.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed
8 ounces dried orecchiette
2 tablespoons salted butter (regular or nondairy)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion (6 ounces), chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely grated or pressed
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup (about 1 ounce) finely grated regular or nondairy parmesan cheese (such as Violife or Follow Your Heart), plus more for serving
1/4 cup heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk
6 fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat, and season with salt. Stir in the orecchiette and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat, heat the butter and oil. Once the butter starts to foam, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the Brussels sprouts, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, the black pepper, nutmeg and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, until the sprouts start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the parmesan, cream or coconut milk, and sage, stir to combine, and reduce the heat to low so the mixture gently simmers while the pasta finishes cooking.
Add the pasta and 1/4 cup of the cooking water to the sprouts in the skillet. Toss together until well combined and the sauce coats the pasta. Add a little more cooking water to loosen the sauce, if needed. Taste, and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
Divide among individual bowls, top with more parmesan and serve hot.
Nutritional information per serving (about 1 1/2 cups, using regular parmesan and heavy cream), based on 3: 574 calories, 25 g fat, 12 g saturated fat, 71 g carbohydrates, 519 mg sodium, 51 mg cholesterol, 17 g protein, 7 g fiber, 7 g sugar.
This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.
Adapted from "The Monday Pasta Club” by Ed Barrow (Kyle Books, 2024).
