Recipes
Browse by: Ingredient Cuisine Dish Type Cooking Method Menus Recipe Collections Quick Dinners View All
How-Tos
Cooking Techniques Ingredient Guides Equipment Kitchen Tips Entertaining View All
Product Recs
Equipment Reviews Taste Tests Buying Guides Editors' Picks Books Shop View All
Culture
Cuisine Guides Food History Food Science Personal Essays Podcast Travel Diaries Profiles Food Industry SE HQ View All
Dining Out
Boston Chicago New Orleans New York Portland, OR San Francisco Washington, DC View All Sponsored by
Holidays
Roasts and Entrees Christmas Cookies Side Dishes Party Food Desserts Drinks View All
Gift Guide
Under $50 $50-$100 Splurge View all
Your account
Saved Recipes >
Newsletter
Dinner ideas, sale alerts, pro tips, and more delivered daily to your inbox. No spam, ever.
Follow us
Recipes
Browse by: Ingredient Cuisine Dish Type Cooking Method Menus Recipe Collections Quick Dinners View All
How-Tos
Cooking Techniques Ingredient Guides Equipment Kitchen Tips Entertaining View All
Product Recs
Equipment Reviews Taste Tests Buying Guides Editors' Picks Books Shop View All
Culture
Cuisine Guides Food History Food Science Personal Essays Podcast Travel Diaries Profiles Food Industry SE HQ View All
Dining Out
Boston Chicago New Orleans New York Portland, OR San Francisco Washington, DC View All Sponsored by
Holidays
Roasts and Entrees Christmas Cookies Side Dishes Party Food Desserts Drinks View All
Gift Guide
Under $50 $50-$100 Splurge View all
Saved recipes >

The official credit card of Serious Eats

Food Artisans: Pockets Full of Dough

Food Artisans

A different New York artisan every week.

Stephanie Klose
0 Printer-Friendly Version
Published: August 1, 2012 Last Updated: August 9, 2018

20120801-pockets-full-of-dough.jpg

[Photograph: Stephanie Klose]

For her business, Pockets Full of Dough, Mirijana Ujkic draws on both the Old World (she was born in Montenegro and frequently returned to visit her grandparents, who made their own cheese, cured meats, honey, and grappa) and the New sources as much produce as possible from the east end of Long Island where she grew up and enjoys experimenting with unconventional flavors in her baked goods and handmade pastas.

"It's important to me to do everything by hand," Ujkic says, "including making most of the components." Those components range from the pasta and pastry doughs themselves to ravioli fillings and her own vanilla extract.

Making everything herself gives her an unparalleled degree of control over the products. She explains, "I started making my own cheese for my crustless Italian cheesecake because commercial ricotta never worked very well—it has a really high water content. I tried making it and it yielded such great results, I just went from there."

A number of her pastas incorporate seafood from Long Island; her partner, Keith Knott, is a former commercial fisherman who has maintained relationships with local suppliers. "Long Island is capable of supplying fresh seafood 12 months out of the year," Ujkic says, which gives her and Knott access to "great, fresh seafood" as well as a way to support local harvesters, something that is very important to both of them.

It also was important Ujkic that she find a way for their business to benefit special needs children. To that end, she and Knott work together teaching pasta-making classes to children and young adults on the autism spectrum at University Settlement on the Lower East Side. "There aren't many activities targeted to that population," she explains, "and pasta making is great for the sensory integration disorders" that many of the kids have. "They touch the dough and play with it, then take it home and eat it." Knott is also a therapist who specializes in working with autistic kids, so there's also a clinical aspect to the classes: "sequencing, parallel play, appropriate social time with their peers." She adds, "The parents really get into it too."

Pockets Full of Dough will be at the Fulton Stall Market beginning August 4.

All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

Stephanie Klose contributor
  • Profile
  • Twitter
  • Contact
0 Printer-Friendly Version
Filed Under
  • food artisans
  • keith knott
  • mirijana ujkic
HIDE COMMENTS
Sign In or Register
No comments
Comments are closed
HIDE COMMENTS
Read More
»
Serious Eats

The tastiest bites delivered to your inbox!

  • Latest
  • Masthead
  • Contact
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Jobs
  • Sitemap
  • FAQ

Follow Us

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • © 2019 Serious Eats Inc.

Welcome! Please sign in.

Forgot password?