“We’re incredibly proud to have our business recognized for upholding Slow Food’s three principles of Good, Clean, and Fair.” –Jenny Vascotto
Pasta contains the same basic ingredients. So what’s the difference between fresh and dry pasta? Everything.
Just ask Jenny and Giacomo Vascotto, creators of Trenchers Farmhouse Pasta.
Trenchers Farmhouse Pasta is made with three ingredients: Vermont-grown and -milled flour, eggs from local hens, and water. NEK Grains in Waterford and Nitty Gritty Grain Co. in Charlotte provide most of the flour. Trenchers prepares northern Italian-style, fresh extruded pastas including classic long noodles—fettucine, linguine, bucatini, pappardelle, and ripply-edge mafaldine—and shorter shapes such as radiatori, gigli, and gnochetti sardi. They also produce fresh lasagna sheets in addition to sauces and Italian desserts.
“All of our pasta is fresh,” Giacomo explains. “We make the dough, run it through the extruder, and package it. There’s no drying process, a step that removes moisture. That’s the beauty of our pasta: it cooks in just a few minutes, and the quality is the same regardless if it’s refrigerated or frozen.” Trenchers also offers vegan and gluten-free options. “We want everyone to have access to a great meal, whether you prefer egg noodles, vegan, or gluten-free.”
Top Vermont chefs rely on Trenchers fresh pastas, including Bleu Northeast Kitchen in Burlington; The Lodge at Spruce Peak and Cork Restaurant in Stowe; The Buttery in St. Johnsbury; and Twin Farms in Barnard. National awards are starting to pour in. Slow Food Vermont bestowed their coveted Snail of Approval in 2022 and 2024. “We’re incredibly proud to have our business recognized for upholding Slow Food’s three principles of Good, Clean, and Fair,” Jenny says.
“Through Slow Food International, we’ve been able to source coffee, chocolate, sugar, and oil that we use in our desserts. Environmentally conscious choices aren’t inexpensive, but we’re committed to making choices based on our values and cultivating local and global partnerships that mesh with our beliefs.” Mindful Awards named Trenchers the best pasta product for 2024, and the prestigious Good Food Awards honored the bucatini, gigli, and gluten-free radiatori in 2024 as well.
Traditional Italian farmhouse cookery centers on seasonal ingredients and finding creative— and delicious—ways to prepare them. Jenny works closely with regional farms that provide seasonal produce she incorporates into a variety of luscious pasta sauces. All the sauces are vegetarian and gluten-free.
“Simple is best when the main ingredients are of the highest quality,” Jenny says. “We take farm veggies and create sauces with our own twist.” Salsa alla Norma features roasted tomatoes, eggplant, and pecorino. Spicy Calabrese sauce is made with either sweet carrots or creamy eggplant. Caramelized zucchini and onions are kissed with red wine, fresh oregano and basil, and a touch of cream to become a rich, vegetarian Bolognese. And of course, Jenny makes an heirloom tomato and basil sauce hearty enough to please any nonna. “Our sauces are designed to complement our pastas, but we also recommend them for pizza, as toppings for grilled meats or poultry, or for shakshukastyle baked eggs, a fantastic breakfast or brunch dish.”
The pastas, sauces, desserts, and a curated selection of olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars are available on their website. Look for the boxed pastas in the refrigerated and freezer sections of coops, independent grocers, and country stores around Vermont and New England.
“We want to give people the best-quality fresh pasta on the market.” –Jenny Vascotto
Both Jenny and Giacomo have extensive culinary backgrounds, with positions at Michelinstarred restaurants in Italy, Japan, South Africa, and California. The young chefs met at a worldrenowned butcher in Tuscany in August 2016. Jenny had just finished working with a master soba noodle maker in Tokyo when the butcher apprenticeship opened. “I’d waited eight years for that opportunity!” Jenny and Giacomo quickly fell in love, and Giacomo followed Jenny that autumn to San Francisco where she helped open a restaurant. The couple married that December. Giacomo still laughs and shakes his head in disbelief that he left his hometown of Modena in northern Italy, arguably one of the best food tourism regions in the world, and moved to the United States. However, he and Jenny are now enhancing Vermont’s well-deserved reputation as a gastronomic hub of the Northeast.
The couple moved in 2019 from the West Coast to Lyndonville in the Northeast Kingdom, where Jenny’s mother had settled into a beautiful home surrounded by 100 acres, plenty of room to establish a farm. “Giacomo and I knew we wanted to branch out and start a business together, but California wasn’t affordable. So, when my mom gave us this chance, we jumped on it.”
“Our original vision was to create a true farmto- table dining experience here at the homestead,” Giacomo says. “We put in an extensive garden that summer with mixed heirloom Italian vegetables and herbs and started raising our own flock of laying hens. Neither of us had any farming experience, but we just did it. We made and learned from all sorts of mistakes. We talked with farmers, read books, and participated in NOFA-VT workshops.”
The next step was product development. In January 2020, they started making pasta by hand in the farmhouse kitchen. Making 20-pound batches of fresh pasta by hand is not for the faint of heart—or arm. When the pandemic took hold in early spring, Jenny and Giacomo put their farmto- table dream on hold. They pivoted to an Italian approach known as gastronomia, where small shops offer fresh pastas, sauces, take-and-bake meals (ravioli, gnocchi, lasagna), breads, and desserts. Developing a “one-stop shop” enterprise, the pair became vendors at farmers’ markets in Montpelier and Littleton, New Hampshire. “That first year was proof of concept and allowed us to get direct feedback about our pastas, sauces, and desserts,” Jenny relays. “Business exceeded our expectations, so we decided to invest in a commercial kitchen at the farm. At that point, we added Burlington and Stowe farmers’ markets.”
“We take a holistic approach to our business: making great product, delivering a service, and cultivating relationships among our producers, distributors, and consumers.”
–Giacomo Vascotto
“We’re a good team because we divide and conquer,” Giacomo explains. Jenny manages production and packaging, food safety, and recipe development while Giacomo focuses on sales and logistics, distribution, and consumer care. He also offers cooking demos in stores that carry their product line, introducing customers to the pleasures of fresh pasta.
Jenny teaches cooking classes via Zoom on many Sunday evenings. The classes are free and run from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Jenny features a different pasta each week, sprinkling tips and tidbits that benefit even experienced cooks. Participants receive the recipe in advance so they can shop for ingredients and prepare the dish at home. Most dishes are designed to be completed in about 45 minutes. “I develop these recipes to introduce people to new methods and flavor combinations,” Jenny explains. Giacomo serves as the film crew, keeping the camera tightly focused on the culinary action unfolding in the heart of the family’s handsome farmhouse kitchen.
“We want to give people the best-quality fresh pasta on the market,” Jenny says. “We’re elated and humbled to have our products recognized on a national level,” Giacomo concludes. “We take a holistic approach to our business: making great product, delivering a service, and cultivating relationships among our producers, distributors, and consumers.”
Pick up a box of Trenchers pasta, order some of Jenny’s sauces, and bring a touch of northern Italian farmhouse cooking into your own kitchen.
