By Kristy Graver, Pittsburgh Magazine

A couple from Kazakhstan is making Soul Pasta in Pittsburgh’s Little Italy. 

Last September, Kamila Batyrova and Damir Ikhsanov opened the business at 4903 Baum Blvd. in Bloomfield. They sell a variety of scratch-made pasta and sauces, appetizers, sandwiches, gluten-free options and desserts available for delivery and takeout in bags or gift boxes. 

If, like me, you have no chill when it comes to food, there’s a table inside where you can chow down. I had heaping helpings of cheese ravioli in a zesty marinara as well as mafalde in boscaiola, a cream sauce with organic mushrooms and onions. I paired the two plates of pasta with fresh-baked bread, creating a carbohydrate trifecta.

I took a bag of bigoli to go. It’s thicker than spaghetti and made of semolina flour. You could probably jump rope with it, but I recommend devouring it al dente. 

“When you are cooking with love from the soul, everything is good,” says Batyrova, who’s been feeding people most of her life. “If you’re in a bad mood, get out of the kitchen.”

Before coming to the United States from the Central Asian country four years ago, she worked as a criminal psychologist. Her husband was in the oil business. Thanks to the pandemic their visit turned into a permanent stay. They learned how to speak English by watching “Dallas” reruns and holiday movies such as “Home Alone.”

Their kids — who, at ages 7 and 10, resemble a young Macaulay Culkin — grew up watching athletes from their homeland shoot and score in the NHL. Now they participate in Little Penguins Learn to Play, a youth hockey program sponsored by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation.