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22 | November 9, 2017 | The wilmette beacon dining out
wilmettebeacon.com
Family tradition reigns supreme at Pastificio
Xavier Ward
Contributing Editor
WILMETTE
The Rock House
(1150 Central Ave. (847)
256-7625)
■6:30 ■ p.m. Friday, Nov.
17: Family Night +
Karaoke
■8 ■ p.m. Saturday, Nov.
18: Will van Lierop
Wilmette Theatre
(1122 Central Ave. (847)
251-7424)
■2 ■ p.m. Sunday, Dec.
3: Conversations
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Rowlen
GLENVIEW
Johnny’s Kitchen
(1740 Milwaukee Ave.
(847) 699-9999)
■7:30 ■ p.m. every Friday
and Saturday: Live
Music
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(1742 Glenview Road
(224) 616-3062)
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■10 ■ a.m. Saturday,
Nov. 18: Piper Phillips
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■10 ■ a.m. Sunday, Nov.
19: Owen Hemming
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The seasonal pumpkin pasta lasagna ($12.99 per
pound) includes a mild and melty Parmigiano-Reggiano
filling topped with a veal tomato sauce. Photos by
Martin Carlino/22nd Century Media
Dream jobs are few
and far between. For Pat
Galli, however, her dream
was self-made and rolled
through the cylinders of a
hand-crank pasta maker.
Galli, owner of Pastificio,
122 Highwood
Ave., Highwood, remembers
graduating college
and not having many job
prospects. Frustrated with
the stand-still job market,
she suggested she
and her mother open their
own shop as she had often
kicked around the idea of
doing.
She remembers her
mother saying, “I didn’t
sacrifice immigrating here
and sending my oldest
child to college to see her
having to work really hard
in the kitchen.”
Then again, Galli said,
what’s better than working
for yourself?
Pastificio is a take-home
Northern Italian eatery.
As you enter the shop,
the unassuming facade
gives way to the northern
Italian assemblage that lies
just beyond the door.
There are rows of spices
and artisan olive oils,
a glass case full of all of
the house-made pasta you
can imagine, and a freezer
section full of freshly prepared
and recently frozen
take-home dishes.
The most noticeable feature
of the store is the pasta
case full of just about every
pasta you can imagine,
from squid-ink linguine to
basil fettuccini.
Editors from 22nd Century
Media stopped by and
sampled the fare.
One of the most popular
dishes, the meat lasagna,
isn’t your standard frozen
lasagna. We sampled the
seasonal pumpkin pasta lasagna
($12.99 per pound),
but Pastificio’s standard is
always available.
A veal tomato sauce
smothered the layered Italian
classic, and its savory
tang was well balanced by
the mild and melty Parmigianno-Reggiano
filling.
Pastificio sells its lasagna
by the pound. A
family-sized tray, 9-by-13
inches, typically comes
out to $42 and feeds six
to eight people. It’s also
available in medium and
individual sizes.
Next up was the cappellacci
($12.99 per serving),
a medieval dish that is
stuffed with pumpkin, butternut
squash, fresh lemon
zest, fresh ricotta and
Parmigianno-Reggiano. It
was smothered in a savory
house sauce.
Pastificio’s meatballs
were next up ($9.99 for
six or $19.99 for 12). Galli
said she doesn’t use anything
but finely ground
veal for these Italian treats
and they’re left to simmer
in the pomarola sauce.
For appetizers, you can
find the insalata mista
($14.99 per pound), a
fresh and tart salad prepared
with fresh bell peppers,
red onions, baby
artichokes, olive oil and a
light balsamic.
If you can, save room
for dessert.
The always classic cannoli
($8.99 for three large
or $12.99 for six mini) is
sure to satisfy your sweet
tooth.
However, for those
looking for a lighter dessert,
the frappé ($17 per
package) is a light pastry
stretched paper thin and
tossed with powdered sugar.
It pairs well with gelato
or fresh fruit.
All of these items are
handcrafted and passed
on from her mother. It’s
keeping a family tradition
going.
Pastificio recently celebrated
its 40th anniversary,
and Galli said people
flooded in to give their respects
to the food they’ve
had for years.
She remembered being
in tears all day as more
than 500 loyal customers
came in to say congratulations.
The shop is entering its
fourth generation of customers,
and Galli plans to
keep that going. That said,
she’ll never forget the
shop’s humble roots.
Her mother, Elsa Amidei,
had immigrated from Italy
and was doing domestic
work for the Blossom family,
of Lake Forest.
Pastificio’s cappellacci ($12.99 per serving) is stuffed
with pumpkin, butternut squash, fresh lemon zest, fresh
ricotta and Parmigiano-reggiano smothered in a savory
house sauce.
Eventually she started
cooking and word of her
skill spread to the neighbors.
Molly Blossom, whose
grandparents employed
Amidei, said one of the
neighbors told Amidei,
“You’re such a great cook,
what are you going to do
about it?”
“After that, she quit doing
the laundry,” Blossom
said.
From there, the dream
took hold and began becoming
a reality.
Blossom’s mother is still
a loyal customer to Pastificio.
The shop’s start wasn’t
easy, Galli said.
“It was very difficult
because the food industry
still is dominated by
males,” she said. “As a
young girl, too, I had to
try to gain the respect of
the clientele. They would
walk in, they would look
at this young kid and say,
‘What the hell does she
know?’”
Galli helped to blaze
that trail for women in the
culinary industry and now,
while it isn’t easy, women
are far more respected in
the industry, she said.
When it comes to proving
the doubters wrong,
it’s all about word of
Pastificio
122 Highwood Ave.,
Highwood
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-
Friday
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday
Phone: (847) 432-5459
Fax: (847) 432-5474
Website: www.
pastificiohighwood.com
mouth, Galli said.
Galli estimated she has
between five to seven new
customers a day. Most of
them come because their
friends told them to.
“Anyone who walks
through that door becomes
part of this pasta feature
family, and that means we
want to know you for a
long time,” Galli said.
Over time, the business
has had to adjust, but not
change entirely.
Many of the customers
who started coming
40 years ago are now elderly
and live alone, which
prompted the single-serving
option that most dishes
come in, Galli said.
She even ships her food,
if you request it.
Along with the selection
of prepared artisanal
northern Italian food, Pastificio
offers a wide variety
of wines and assorted Italian
treats.