Tu Pasta: Italians do it better
This is my first article dedicated to an Italian restaurant in Madrid, and it’s not about pizza even if there are quite a lot posts about pizza in my the Instagram feed.
I have to admit that I always need to feel that spark, the Spanish chispa, in order to start shaking my hands on the keyboard composing a new article.
Tu Pasta, the brand new italian restaurant in front of Retiro, made me do that, because it is not an ordinary shop selling italian food and they don’t have pizza, but they do have the italian soul, or even better the Sardinian soul, a very precise idea of what they want to offer and how they want to offer it.
Sardinia is a land of seafood, tradition and have a strong culinary identity, and you can find some of the island best seller in the menu.
But Tu Pasta is not a Sardinian restaurant, you can find many different food from all part of Italy, there is a lot of research for offering the best of each Region, both in ingredients and receipts.
The caponata for example which is a typical Sicilian starter, it’s really similar to a Spanish pisto manchego but aubergine, olives and capers are the protagonist, usually cutted in bigger pieces than in Spain.
About the starters, cheese and hams are also from different regions, the pecorino with black pepper is typical of Sardinia, than the Gorgonzola of the north and Mortadella of Emilia Romagna.
The core part of the menu is the pasta, of course, which can be stuffed or not staffed pasta, always available to enjoy in the restaurant or to take away, and in this case you can bring the already cooked receipt, or just the homemade ravioli and cook them later with your favourite sauce.
I am a huge fan of gnocchi and I miss so much the homemade I was used to buy any given Saturday at Papiniano food market under my house.
But know I can go to calle Menendez Pelayo buy the fresh gnocchi of Tu Pasta and cook them home with a kilo of gorgonzola cheese. Best food in the world.
The Tu Pasta menu will make it quite difficult when you will decide which pasta to order, so my tip is always to share it as much as you can, try the carbonara with real guanciale, then move to a stuffed pasta, I had the scamorza and the truffle and they were both incredible, and don’t forget a taste of seafood. I would recommend the fregola, which is something really unique, looks like rice but it’s made of pasta with a similar sauce of the classic “spaghetti alle vongole”.
There is also the concept of experimenting the classic italian pasta with some of Spanish tradition like rabo de toro, and I find very interesting to see how the power of such a famous and strong taste can be mixed with the delicate textures of italian fresh pasta.
If you want to have an idea of what the a real tiramisù or cannolo siciliano are, then you know that in front of the Retiro you can sit inside the restaurant or in the terrazza, really in front of the park and bite these two delicious desserts, again, perfect for sharing.
What should not be missed during a truly italian meal is for sure the wine, red, rosè or white, it doesn’t matter, the wine list shows Amarone Della Valpolicella, the classic Barolo, or the prestigious Chianti.
Don’t be afraid of carbs, Retiro is waiting for you if want to run after the perfect starter to dessert italian meal at Tu Pasta.
More information here: Tu Pasta.
