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Although Tontitown — the Northwest Arkansas community founded by Italian settlers — has long been known for its grapes and wines, a Springdale shop is making its own mark on the map as a producer of pasta in the Italian tradition.
Zelli Pasta, owned and operated by Mitchell Owen and Angelina Bowen, opened in July 2022 and currently has 52 retailers in Arkansas and can be found in 150 stores throughout the country. The couple also credits the extra help from their 6-year-old, Ari, who is sometimes at the front helping with the barcode scanner.
A desire to fill a need for fresh pasta in the region turned into a full-blown retail shop with specialty food products sourced from small producers all over the world.
The idea for Zelli Pasta was born out of COVID. Bowen said she and Owen always knew they wanted to design, develop and launch a product, but they were uncertain as to what exactly that product would be. “During COVID, Mitchell started making pasta every day,” Bowen said. “We really saw a need in our area for fresh pasta and decided to go for it.”
The bright packaging makes Zelli Pasta instantly recognizable. “We designed the yellow boxes right away with the goal of getting the product into specialty and grocery stores,” Bowen said. “We reach out to specialty shops all over the country with hopes of getting Zelli pasta into all 48 contiguous states.”
The couple leased the space in downtown Springdale, originally thinking it would just be a production space. But they also wanted to offer fresh ravioli and pasta for pickup. “This idea spiraled into the retail store that we have now,” Bowen explained. “We figured if people were coming by to purchase fresh pasta for dinner, then we should also have really good Italian provisions to complete the meal.”
They now offer specialty food products sourced from small producers all over the world. That includes meats, cheeses, sauces, tomatoes, vinegar, oils, flour, cookbooks, pasta tools, tinned fish, wine, treats and more. For prepared food, they offer take-n-bake lasagnas, homemade pasta sauce, short-rib tortellini, Saturday ravioli, as well as fresh pasta available in the refrigerator.
A recent week’s menu included butternut squash lasagna, homemade tomato sauce, and ravioli with garlic and leeks.
Zelli Pasta is made two different ways. Extruded pasta is made using all organic durum semolina flour and water. The extruder mixes the pasta, then pushes it out through bronze dies into various shapes. (You can watch this process on Instagram/Facebook @Zellipasta.)
“Using the bronze dies is what leaves our pasta with a lot of texture,” Bowen said. “This is the traditional way of making pasta, and the idea is that your sauce should stick to your pasta and not be left at the bottom of your plate.”
Then they dry the pasta. Depending on the shape, they either use air drying methods or use their artisanal drying cabinets to control the temperature and humidity. According to Bowen, both methods are considered slow drying with low temperatures for quality pasta that retains the nutrients from the grains.
“Large pasta manufacturers use Teflon extruder dies — which leaves the pasta shiny and slippery — and then they dry at high temps in very short periods of time,” Bowen said. “Not good.
“The other pasta that we make is a whole egg dough that we make for our fresh pasta in store,” Bowen said. “We use this dough for our lasagna sheets, stuffed pastas and other hand-cut pastas. For this, we use our same all-organic durum semolina flour and just mix eggs into a large doughball on our wood table.”
Fresh pasta boils much faster than dried pasta, which is helpful to some home chefs. “There are also certain shapes that don’t dry as well and are much better fresh,” Bowen said.
According to Bowen, their best-selling pasta is bucatini or spaghetti. Her favorite pasta dish is carbonara, and they also sell guanciale and Pecorino Romano with which to make it in the shop. “We also have this recipe available on our website if you need a little help,” she said.
As for their favorite pasta shape, Bowen said, “I don’t think either of us could possibly choose. Ravioli, pansotti, tortellini, bucatini, mafaldine, spaghetti, radiatore, trottole, orzo, couscous… the list goes on. We eat a lot of pasta and love to rotate through all of the shapes. Everything is delicious.”
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