Penne for your thoughts

Ripiena is everything you’d expect from an authentic pasta laboratory, it’s fresh, traditional, and oh-so-delicious!

By PENELOPE PELECAS

Where does one find the tastiest pasta dish in Brisbane? Ripiena, of course! This hole-in-the-wall pasta laboratory serves up some of Italy’s most popular pasta dishes, and pasta varieties. And with Italian chef Nicolo Campagnari at the helm, you know you can only expect the best.

“Call us old school, but at Ripiena we are inflexible in our Italianity,” Nicolo, who was born and raised in Verona, says. (Yes, you’ve guessed it, you won’t be finding any chicken in their pasta dishes!)

All their pasta and fillings are made fresh in-house several times a day with a focus on take-home options (there are a handful of tables for customers to dine-in as well!).

For example, the pork in their popular tortellini di Bologna is marinated for 24 hours before being combined with prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, and mortadella di Bologna and left to rest a further 24 hours.

Nicolo opened Ripiena (Italian for filled) with his wife in 2018. While the pair had only been living in Brisbane for six months, the idea of one day opening up a pasta laboratory had always been a dream of his.

Nicolo has been surrounded by food his whole life, working his first job in his family’s osteria at the age of 14. “My family used to own a small restaurant in the countryside of Verona,” he says. “The chef was this very talented young lady from the north of Italy.”

“I remember spending my afternoons in the kitchen just watching her prepare pasta every day,” Nicolo recalls, adding he would then go home and try to imitate her dishes.

As for his favourite dish to make (and eat!), Nicolo says you can’t beat classic tortellini di Bologna. RIPIENA.COM.AU