Macheesmo

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Last week in Paris, fourteen amazing chefs competed at the 8^th annual Barilla Pasta World Championship! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the event, but I got a sneak peek at some of the delicious pasta dishes the chefs made and I thought I would share them with you all so you can see how pasta can be transformed into a piece of art.

The theme of the World Championships this year was “The Art of Pasta” and I think you’ll agree that the chefs made some truly amazing dishes.

Here’s a quick portfolio of all the dishes that the chefs made!

HOMETOWN FAVORITE

I have to give a quick shout-out to my buddy Chef Sean Turner, the US representative for the Pasta World Championship. I met him at the U.S. Qualifying Event and he is an amazingly talented chef.

Here he is working hard. Glad to see he brought his St. Louis hat to Paris!

A few of My Favorite Dishes

The dish I would most like to eat if I had my pick is Chef Boyle’s dish from Norway.

It looks unassuming but is a crazy dish. It includes a chestnut, butternut squash puree sauce, pickled butternut squash, fried sage, mushrooms, and a coffee oil.

In fact, I liked the sounds of it so much that I actually made a homemade version of it (with a fair number of shortcuts to be honest) and will post it on Instagram soon!

The dish that I thought was the most artful was from French Chef Chouteau. It’s rightly named “Pasta Land Art”:

I’m not even sure I could eat something so pretty!

THE WINNING DISH! 

At the end of the competition, the ultimate champion was Chef Yuge from Japan!

It’s hard to tell what’s going on in that bowl, but it’s an incredibly complicated mix of flavors with Japanese elements throughout. Barilla Penne pasta with “Gorgonzola” cream sauce. Sounds standard but the sauce has sake in it and the dish is finished with an array of sauces and toppings like oysters, spinach puree, walnuts, and Oyster leaf. WOW.