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B-Corp Italian pasta restaurant, miscusi, has launched a new menu featuring low impact pastas that promises to make Italian dining more sustainable by using bio-diverse ingredients sourced through an ethical supply chain that has minimal impact on the environment. 

miscusi’s recipe for happiness is bringing people together with its simple and delicious pasta dishes, without comprising the planet. Since its launch in 2017, sustainability has been at its core and the brand is committed to creating change through the power of food.

miscusi owes 82% of its carbon emissions to the ingredients it puts on the plate. This is why the restaurant group has been working with local Italian farmers to develop a more sustainable and regenerative agriculture practice, creating a new wave of pastas that emit 80% less carbon emissions than traditional industrial alternatives*.

The three new pastas that feature on miscusi’s new menu were developed across a successful two-year innovation process. All are grown using no artificial irrigation – and therefore less water – no pesticides and a mix of different grains which help promote soil health and better absorb CO2. These include:

1. Classic durum wheat pasta – made with three 100% organic Sicilian grains, which have been grown by the same families for three generations on native Italian soil. This pasta comes in four classic shapes; paccheri, spaghetti, tagliatelle and trofie (a Mediterrenean staple!).
2. Sorghum fusilloni – the most sustainable of all miscusi’s pasta, it needs very little water to grow, is enriched with corn flour, and is naturally gluten-free. This pasta was born on the outskirts of Milan thanks to the regenerative agriculture project that saw the miscusi team experiment with the farming of sorghum on over 17 acres of land.
3. M7 pasta – this is a brand new miscusi-owned creation. A unique blend of four grains and three legumes to promote biodiversity, this pasta is fully plant-based and packed with vegetable proteins – healthy, nutritious and delicious. 

Alberto Cartasegna, Founder and CEO of miscusi, says: “Pasta is staple in the Mediterranean diet and loved by people all over the world, and for good reason – it makes us happy!

“We’re on a mission to create pasta that everyone can enjoy, a delicious dish that won’t impact your pockets or the planet. Our new low impact pastas are an industry-first and will help make sustainable eating more accessible. Specially designed with the environment in mind, these new pastas use less water, no pesticides and combine a variety of ancient grains to promote biodiversity – we really can offer customers food that is good for you and good for the planet.”

“The hospitality sector is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and we, as an industry, have a responsibility to do better. How do we do this? By innovating from the ground up. Good soil health is the foundation of a thriving farm ecosystem; it can help us combat climate change and our farmers are the gatekeepers.

“Before deciding on the use of any one ingredient in our dishes, it’s imperative for us to measure the CO2, biodiversity and water impact that these have. That’s why, two years ago, we launched a new research and development project, working with local Italian farmers to create a more sustainable menu. This project has allowed us to innovate and improve our agricultural processes, building a stronger, more transparent supply chain from the soil up. We hope other restaurants in the UK, Italy and across Europe will innovate like us to transform the hospitality sector and bring about a new dawn of sustainable dining”

miscusi’s new menu puts their low-impact pastas front and centre. The M7 in particular features in two of its new signature dishes – the Rigatoni Pesto Mediterraneo, a red pesto sauce topped with almonds,and Spaghetti Cacio Pepe Gamberi, a creamy sauce with delicate Sicilian prawn tartare. Dishes start from £9.50. 

Diners will also be encouraged to try the new pasta as they get creative and develop their own signature dishes using simple and seasonal ingredients. With just seven core pasta dishes on the menu, miscusi is encouraging customers to express themselves with food and create their own plates of pasta. Diners can select the shape and grain of their pasta, adding their preferred sauces or pesto, and finishing off with any toppings of their choice.

As well as their new low impact pastas, miscusi goes one step further with its M loyalty scheme which rewards customers for choosing dishes that are good for the planet. The three pasta plates on the menu with the lowest carbon footprint will earn diners double points to spend in store.**

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Customers can find miscusi at The Yards, Covent Garden, and the restaurant will be opening a second store in Upper Street Islington on 1 June 2022.

Find out more about miscusi, and its sustainability mission via https://miscusi.uk/.