Pasta for a cause: Helping Baltimore with flour and water

Miller Roberts III holds freshly-made tornatini pasta at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022.

The pasta-making process at B-More Pasta is simple: mix flour and water together and send the dough through an extruder to create various shapes. But there’s more to their pasta than meets the eye. Every noodle packed into one of B-More Pasta’s shiny bags is not only an ingredient for a delicious meal but a way to help the Baltimore community.

Monica Lapenta, the executive director and CEO of Baltimore’s Italian cultural organization The BIT Center, started B-More Pasta in July 2021 as a way to create jobs for young adults and give back to the city through the Italian cultural center. As a native of Naples, Italy, pasta had been in Lapenta’s family for hundreds of years, but she’d never had much of an interest in it until she realized how it could be used to help her community.

The BIT Center in Baltimore, Md. is seen on February 23, 2022.

“People love the idea of something that has this degree of artisanship and craftsmanship that can be done from people that have no training,” Lapenta said. “They have to acquire the training and it’s a very skillful and precise job.”

Lance White slides a new basket for catching pasta under the extruder at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022.

The entrepreneurship program at B-More Pasta also teaches young adults the inner workings of the pasta-making business. Lapenta wants graduates of the 12-month program to be able to extend the skills they acquire to areas beyond pasta making.

“So at the end of the 12 months, you really know how to run a business,” Lapenta said. “And you can replicate, doesn’t have to be pasta, it can be everything because the moment you learn how to run a business you can run it in any other areas.”

Lance White examines the casarecce pasta he’s making at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022.

The first young adult to take part in the entrepreneurship program is 20-year-old Lance White. He is now officially B-More Pasta’s Pasta Master, which he admits is “kind of dramatic.” But White has learned a lot about making pasta in a short amount of time, and the process has sparked an interest in experimenting with new varieties.

Lance White changes the bronze die in the pasta extruder at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022. The bronze die gives the pasta its shape and a rough texture that better holds onto sauce.

“Maybe eight months ago, I didn’t know anything about this and it just came to me so fast,” White said. “It’s a lot that we haven’t even begun to touch the surface of, different shapes and mixtures that we have yet to do. And I’m really curious about that.”

Lance White opens a bag of Italian semolina flour at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022. B-More Pasta uses Italian and local Maryland flour in their pastas.

Lance White measures out Italian semolina flour at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022. He also uses Italian water to make pasta.

Lance White pours flour into the pasta extruder at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022.

Lance White tests the pasta dough at B-More Kitchen in Baltimore, Md. on February 24, 2022. When he can see his hand print in the dough, he knows it’s ready to extrude.

B-More Pasta’s finished product is sold at a couple of Baltimore stores and on their website. The profits are used to fund community programs at The BIT Center. This includes initiatives like Be a Chef for a Day, which teaches school children how to cook nutritious and budget-friendly meals, and B-More Bounty Boxes, boxes of food delivered to those in need. These boxes are filled with items like fruit, vegetables, milk, shelf-stable items, and prepared meals.

Curt Schwartz (left) passes frozen vegetables to John Karlsen as they pack B-More Bounty Boxes at The BIT Center in Baltimore, Md. on February 23, 2022.

As B-More Pasta ramps up production, Miller Roberts III, their community engagement coordinator, is looking forward to how its profits will benefit these other programs.

Curt Schwartz unpacks fresh vegetables that he will put into B-More Bounty Boxes at The BIT Center in Baltimore, Md. on February 23, 2022.

A pre-cooked meal and bread inside a B-More Bounty Box are pictured at The BIT Center in Baltimore, Md. on February 23, 2022.

“Any of the profit made from this will support those operations,” Roberts said. “One of these days we’ll be cranking out hundreds and hundreds of pounds, right? Any of those proceeds will then help us to be able to secure the fruits and vegetables and all those things so we don’t have to write grants all the time.”

Giving back to the community is another valuable lesson that B-More Pasta can impart to its young entrepreneurs.

“I see people that we sell pasta to or we give boxes away to and they’re just so appreciative of it, and it just made me think, wow, this is really helping a lot of people,” White said. “It just reminds me I’m doing something good for the community.”