Top chef develops fresh Brazilian styled pasta for export

Top London chef Simon Nesbitt has set up Pasta Gourmet in Northern Ireland to develop Brazilian-styled pasta for export.

Mr Nesbitt, a former head chef at restaurants such Tiger, Tiger, The Loop and Courts of Chancery Lane, has developed a range of fresh and frozen handmade pasta for export.

The pasta features strong Brazilian influences, as a result of 10 years living and working in foodservice at Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, where Northern Ireland-born Mr Nesbitt, moved following marriage.

In Brazil, he worked alongside leading Italian chefs and mastered the art of handmade raviolis which inspired him to produce and introduce his own interpretation of this worldwide loved food. Pasta produced by the company, based at Banbridge, County Down, is already on sale in Northern Ireland.

"Porto Alegre is a part of Brazil with particularly strong Italian links," he says. "One of the country's biggest ports, cuisine there has been influenced and shaped by immigrants from many parts of Europe including Italy, Germany and Poland. This means there's a tremendous fusion of cuisines there. I grew to love creating pasta dishes during my time in London."

On returning to Northern Ireland he created Pasta Gourmet to develop handmade pasta and sauces focused on quality, taste and freshness.

The focus of Pasta Gourmet is on high quality and fresh pasta that's handmade and includes ravioli, tortelloni and taglietalle, all free of additives and artificial flavours.

"Our commitment is to produce quality and natural products that people will find deliciously different. Feedback from existing customers has been immensely encouraging.The ravioli we make is all handmade, bigger in size and with more fillings and flavours than we've seen anywhere else," Mr Nesbitt says. "We are now working on additional pasta products and on original sauces.

"The pasta is made from a special combination of the best traditional Italian recipes and the finest local ingredients.

The fresh pasta includes Parma Ham, Sundried Tomato and Mozzarella Ravioli, Formaggio (Four Cheeses) Ravioli, Fivemiletown Ballyblue and Roast Red Pepper Ravioli, Tagliatelle and Beetroot Tagliatelle. In addition, the company is expanding its product range with the introduction of innovative fresh sauces developed by Simon including Tomato and Basil.

For the catering sector, Pasta Gourmet has created a range of handmade frozen pasta that includes ravioli and tortelloni.