The day Michelangelo Stanchi was to be baptized in Genoa, three cruising ships appeared in the Italian seaport: the Michelangelo, the Raphael and the Leonardo da Vinci.

Because his mother had already planned to name her son Michelangelo after the beloved Italian sculptor, painter and architect, she believed the presence of the boats to be a good omen and decided her son should bear the names of all three Renaissance artists and christened him Michelangelo Raffaello Leonardo.

Stanchi, now 43 and living in Santa Fe since 1995, has done his best to live up to his name.

Fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian, an artist and an entrepreneur, he likes to take on new challenges and sets high standards for whatever he does. His philosophy: "Do the best you can and don't do things you don't feel proud about."

Like a true has Renaissance man, Stanchi may have sold you a house, taught you the Italian language or made your wedding ring.

And now he wants to put fresh pasta on your table.

"Food is not just about eating," he says. "It's a cultural event ... Go to Italy and (you'll see) people sit down and talk about food for hours. It's a pleasure of life."

During one of those conversations, a friend of Stanchi's suggested he make fresh pasta in Santa Fe.

That was more than 10 years ago.

The art of making pasta

Over the past two months, Stanchi has been perfecting his pasta in a state-licensed kitchen off Rabbit Road.

Making pasta in the Southwest poses some challenges, however. First, there are the ingredients. Basil and tomatoes taste different in Santa Fe than in Italy, Stanchi says. Then there's the arid climate. He must work quickly in the morning, Stanchi says, or the pasta will dry too fast.

And that's why he calls his new business venture The Art of Fresh Pasta.

Every Thursday, Stanchi devotes his attention to pasta- making.

"It's a fun process," he says.

Stanchi's pasta machines are Italian-made. The largest, made by P. Dominioni, mixes the organic semolina and cage-free eggs. It also cuts the pasta into different widths and lengths. And it has a special cylinder that makes ravioli. With this machine, Stanchi says, he can make 60 to 80 pounds of pasta in an hour.

Another machine is devoted to gnocchi. By the end of the month, Stanchi hopes to have a third machine churning out tortellini.

All that's missing, he says, is a place to sell his products.

Stanchi would like to have a stand at a farmers market, or have his fresh pasta and sauces sold at a local grocery store. So far, though, he hasn't found a way into local retail outlets.

While he waits for the right distribution point to open up, though, he's inviting Santa Feans to experience his handiwork firsthand by hosting free pasta tastings this summer at art galleries on Canyon Road, where he's known as a highly skilled jeweler and once owned a shop, Dolce Salinas. (He's now at New Concepts on Canyon Road on Fridays and Saturdays.)

In June, María José Rodríguez Cádiz and John Boerth attended one of Stanchi's pasta tastings. Their first order of business was to pick up Boerth's wedding band, which Stanchi had crafted from palladium. And then they were on to sampling his fresh pasta and sauces.

They left with a grocery sack full of goodies.

"The texture of the pasta is the one thing that John and I cannot get over," Rodríguez Cádiz says.

One package makes three meals for them, and Rodríguez Cádiz is surprised that when she reheats the pasta on the stove top it doesn't lose its al dente consistency.

The couple ordered a second batch recently, and Stanchi delivered it on his motorcycle.

"We now have it as a treat once a week," Rodríguez Cádiz says.

Stanchi's ambition is to sell 200 pounds of pasta a week in Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque. At the moment, he averages 30 to 50 pounds a week.

Stanchi makes four sauces in addition to the pasta: a basic basil and tomato sauce; a tomato sauce with green chile; a fresh basil pesto; and a milk-based walnut sauce.

The best way to enjoy the taste of fresh pasta, Stanchi says, is to keep the toppings simple. Even butter and sage will do.

And, he cautions, don't overcook it or add olive oil to the water. After you've boiled it for about four minutes, drain it, cover it with a sauce immediately and serve it piping hot.

So what's so special about Stanchi's pasta?

Most of the imported dried Italian pastas sold in stores are made with water, not eggs, he says. To extend the shelf life, the companies pasteurize the pasta and extract oxygen from it during the packaging process. This makes the texture quite different. Stanchi also says it's harder to overcook his egg-based noodles, and they keep their consistency better.

The pasta challenge

Stanchi was born into a family of good cooks and expert jewelers in the town of Valenza, in northwestern Italy. His mother, who still lives there, made pasta by hand for special occasions. Fresh pasta stores are abundant in Italy, so most people don't make their own pasta on a regular basis, he says. One of Stanchi's good friends, who runs a pasta business in Valenza, taught him how to mass produce it on machines. But once the equipment arrived from New York City, Stanchi had his work cut out for him.

"I think it's a challenging place for pasta making," Stanchi says of dusty, dry Santa Fe. "You have to be very fast."

To draw humidity into the kitchen, he turns on the swamp cooler. With a gloved hand, he checks the dough during the kneading process. He adapts the recipe as necessary because the weather "can change constantly the quantity of liquids," he says.

As ribbons of cut pasta flow out of the machine, he arranges them on the counter for a brief drying period of about 15 to
20 minutes. Then, he packages them and puts them in the refrigerator.

"For this type of product, New Mexico is challenging, but we're achieving good results," he says.


What: Free tasting of locally made pasta by Michelangelo Stanchi
When: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. July 25
Where: Sculpture 619 (a gallery at 619 Canyon Road)
For more information: Call 955-0494


www.theartoffreshpasta.com