How Dan Pashman Created a New Pasta Shape

Plus, all the ingredients you need to make his favorite recipe

Here at Zingerman’s, we’re always drawn to people who take food seriously, but never take themselves too seriously. That’s one of the many reasons why we’re big fans of Dan Pashman, creator and host of The Sporkful, the podcast that proudly proclaims it’s “not for foodies, it’s for eaters.” Dan’s curiosity about food is wide-reaching. He’s interested in how food works, how it brings people together, and how the smallest details—like, say, the shape of a noodle—can make a big difference.

And that’s exactly what Dan did when he created a brand-new pasta shape. It took three years of tinkering, testing, and, presumably, tasting, with the expert pasta makers at Sfoglini to introduce Cascatelli. The name comes from the Italian cascatelle, which means “little waterfalls.” (Dan used a little poetic license to end the name with an “i” instead of an “e” to make it sound more like traditional pasta names.) Dan wasn’t just in it for a fun pasta shape and name; his goal was to create “the perfect pasta,” focusing on three key factors for a noodle that tastes as good as it looks:

• Sauceability – how well the pasta holds onto sauces
• Forkability – how easy it is to get the pasta on a fork
• Tooth Sinkability – how satisfying it is to sink your teeth into it

We love that kind of thoughtful innovation. It’s the same spirit that runs through everything we do across the Zingerman’s community: respecting tradition while still asking, “How could this be even better?” Dan’s work captures that balance, too, whether he’s debating the ideal way to assemble a PB&J sandwich on his podcast or sharing playful approaches to pasta as he does in his recent cookbook, Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People. Of it, James Beard Award-winning chef and author J. Kenji López-Alt says, 

If you’ve eaten your share of classic carbonara and lasagna Bolognese and want to level up your pasta game and unlock the full potential of your pantry, pick up this book and let Dan guide your mouth into whole new worlds of deliciousness.

With dozens of tempting recipes, where’s a fellow food lover to start? Dan calls his Kimchi Carbonara “maybe my favorite dish in my cookbook”! And, luckily for all of us, Dan has pulled together some of the dish’s key ingredients along with some of his favorite Zingerman’s items and tucked them all into one special box (along with the recipe, of course). Here’s what you’ll find inside:

• Cascatelli Pasta by Sporkful with Sfoglini – Dan’s iconic pasta shape
• Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese selected by Cravero  – a richly complex, aged cheese essential to any great carbonara
• Smoking Goose Applewood Smoked Jowl Bacon – deeply flavorful and indulgent, ideal for building the dish’s savory base
• Rizzoli Anchovies – the secret weapon for adding depth and rounding out the flavor
• Zingerman’s Sea Salt Potato Chips – a satisfying snack to enjoy while you cook
• Lemon Poppyseed Coffee Cake from Zingerman’s Bakehouse – Dan’s wife’s “favorite cake ever,” this cake is like a personal slice of sunshine
• Zzang! Bar from Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory – a small-batch candy bar made with peanut butter-honey nougat, silky caramel, and Virginia peanuts in dark Colombian chocolate

Together, the contents of the box offer everything needed for a joyful, down-to-earth cooking experience, one that reflects Dan’s philosophy of taking food seriously while keeping cooking fun. We don’t know about you, but we’re ready to enjoy a bowlful of Dan’s Kimchi Carbonara, especially when he describes it as  “spicy, rich, acidic, and decadent”! Dan inspires us to stay curious and never underestimate the power of a great idea. You, too? Stay up-to-date with everything Dan’s up to, from his podcast to his newsletter and more.

Get your box!