Monday, July 23, 2012

Finally Found Fresh Pasta in Toronto - Queen's Pasta

Antipasti Pesto Wholewheat BBQ Pizza
Who would have thought that finding fresh pasta in Toronto would be so difficult.  I posted on Twitter and asked around.  Apparently, little Italy on College isn't really the Italian culinary centre anymore.  Well, not for the really authentic stuff.  I dragged D last week to an Italian market way out in Mississauga just so we could try and find Truffle Oil and other goodies.  We didn't find Truffle Oil nor Fresh Pasta, weird.

I finally asked a co-worker who lives in the Junction for a recommendation.  She quickly recommended Queens Pasta Cafe on Bloor.  I called them and asked if they also sell their Pasta alone and they sent me to their Factory store in south Etobicoke off Royal York south of the Gardener.  Seriously, this is where I have to get fresh Pasta?  Well, may as well load up then.

We bought a couple of stuffed Pasta's and a Pizza dough.  Their pasta is made on sight as well as their sauces and doughs.  With the exception of a few pastas in their chiller cabinet like noodles and Lasagna sheets, the rest of their vast menu is frozen, fresh.  I'm not fussed as long as they made it on site.  There was at least 10 varieties of just the stuffed to choose from and in addition, another dozen other pasta.  Most of the fresh Pasta places in Vancouver were frozen as well except they were defrosted for daily sales.  I know because we often got there early enough to still buy it frozen.  And more often then not, it wasn't made on sight so runs the risk of being frost bit.  Still, odd, that Vancouver would have more outlets for fresh Pasta then Toronto.  sigh.

The staff here is courteous and informed.  Funny note, their portion size is 25% larger than Vancouver.  That doesn't mean a deal per se since you pay by the weight.  But we used to order two portions and we knew we  were buying 400g (~1lb) of fresh pasta.  At Queens, they consider that default order to be 500g.  I've ordered 450g in the past when D isn't there to rein me in and I end up being stuffed.  400 g is perfect really with the sauce and salad you may have.

They also supply the Queen's Pasta Cafe which my friend raves about as well.  I'll post the eaten reviews shortly.  I'm just so pleased to have found an outlet for my Stuffed Pasta needs. We've only tried the Pizza Dough so far.  For 3$, there was enough dough for two very large thin crust pizzas.  We had the choice of Plain, Whole Wheat or Sundried Tomato.  The dough had a good flavour, not like the typical bland storebought.  It rolled thin, nicely and it wasn't crispy but it wasn't bready so it worked really well.  Frankly, according to D, at $3, we would be hard pressed not to use their dough over our making ourselves anymore.  If only I could get D to roll it outside so I'm not cleaning up the flourstorm inside the kitchen tool.  We made 1 with Pesto and jarred Eggplant, Artichoke, Anchovie and lots of fresh Basil.  The second was a classic red with Mushrooms, Peppers, Onions with segregated proteins.  Since the dough cooks really fast (2-3 minutes a side) before topping, D likes to grill the fresh Veg in a BBQ wok before putting them on the pizza.  See my BBQ Pizza post.  We haven't tried the pasta yet.  Stay tuned.

Half Pepperoni and half Fake-on (soy Bacon)

Queen's Pasta (Factory Outlet)
Etobicoke
66 Newcastle St
Toronto, ON
(416) 259-2902
Queen's Pasta on Urbanspoon
It's a shop: so rating price and selection




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