Lisa Feldman, senior director of culinary, menu systems & CSR at Sodexo, was a kid when she first experienced Dan Dan Noodles, the iconic spicy Sichuan noodle dish, at the childhood home of her best friend Jen Haupt, “whose parents were much more adventurous cooks than mine,” she says. Fast forward a few decades to Feldman’s realization that many of the sponsor products for Kitchen Collaborative 2025 lent themselves to what became an inventive spin on Dan Dan Noodles, one that marries Italian pasta with bold Asian- and Spanish-inspired flavors. In a full circle moment, Feldman borrowed Jen’s current home kitchen to finish and photograph her contest entries, prompting her to name the pasta dish in her friend’s honor.

JenJen Ziti was one of more than 500 menu concepts submitted by participating chefs to Kitchen Collaborative 2025, the menu ideation program created in 2020 by Summit F&B in partnership with Flavor & The Menu. Menu concepts were judged blindly by representatives of each sponsor, evaluating descriptions of the concepts, photos and other relevant input. JenJen Ziti earned top honors from Barilla for Professionals.

“Barilla pasta is the gold standard for back of house,” affirms Feldman. “It cooks evenly, holds really well and is forgiving if you cook it just a minute or two long. And, apparently, firing it in a wok works beautifully!” Feldman tossed Barilla^® Cut Ziti in a wok to add a slight blistering and caramelization, enhancing the chewy texture of the noodles. “I loved the idea of substituting ziti for traditional Chinese noodles,” she says. “Ziti’s texture and size lends itself to wok cooking, plus the hollow center gives more surface to coat with a delicious spicy butter.”

Feldman used more than half of the Kitchen Collaborative sponsor products in her JenJen Ziti. “And if that doesn’t show off the versatility of these ingredients, I don’t know what would,” she notes. The self-declared “super competitive” chef admits she was partly driven by a statistics game, knowing that every vendor product meant another entry in the competition. But Feldman also relishes ideation exercises, both alone and in collaboration with others, that turn seemingly disparate ingredients into a cohesive dish. In addition to Barilla ziti, Feldman’s JenJen Ziti features lamb ham from Aussie Select, chorizo crumbles from Tyson, Sriracha and chili crisp from Lee Kum Kee, pickled watermelon provided by the National Watermelon Promotion Board and hoisin from Kikkoman. The dish was presented in a shallow bowl from Libbey.

To recreate the traditional meat and fermented vegetable sauce that accompanies Dan Dan Noodles, Feldman used a small dice of tikka masala-flavored lamb ham, chopped chorizo crumbles and pickled watermelon rind. She retained the Chinese greens component with bok choy and finished the dish with chopped peanuts, plus fried shallots and julienned scallions. Feldman combined hoisin, chili crisp and Sriracha in the sauce, as well as in a vinaigrette drizzle and a craveable butter, which was boosted further with ginger and garlic.

JenJen Ziti is a next-level flavor bomb. According to Feldman, the chili butter infuses the ziti with a rich, spicy, slightly nutty depth of flavor, which is amplified by the chopped peanuts. Crisped up and rendered lamb ham and chorizo together bring smoky, spicy, salty, savory qualities for the equivalent of “a really great Bolognese sauce,” she says. The pickled watermelon delivers a sweet, tangy brightness that cuts through the rich butter and meat. The sauce brings in umami, while bok choy adds a mild, slightly bitter, earthy flavor. Fried shallots offer a sweet, caramelized crunch, while the scallions deliver a fresh, sharp bite. Together, says the chef, “The dish is a careful balance of heat, acidity, umami, richness and crunch.”

Feldman named the JenJen Ziti dish in celebration of her life-long friendship with Jen Haupt.

JenJen Ziti has earned Feldman a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Dubai with Flavor & The Menu, including a visit to the world-renowned Gulfood Show in January 2026. “Getting to experience Dubai with other chefs and food enthusiasts will probably be the thing I appreciate the most,” she says. “It’s always amazing to experience a new place with family or friends, but there is something special about getting to do it with people who are going to nerd out with you on all the culture and cuisines and who are willing to try all the things.”

While the prize served as a compelling incentive to invest the time and creativity in Kitchen Collaborative, there was another reason Feldman was eager to participate. Her long tenure at Sodexo has meant involvement in many recipe contests, but always as a judge. “I’ve never been eligible to participate!” Plus, she’s at a stage in her career where she rarely gets to do hands-on professional cooking. “But as a certified research chef, my brain is always searching out trends and ideating dishes, so I wanted to give this challenge a shot,” she explains. But the ultimate attraction is one that keeps Feldman in her profession. “Having an outlet to think through how to best leverage the characteristics of a set of quality ingredients and create a dish that is so delicious that people are fighting over the last bite is really worth the time investment.”

MORE INSPIRED TAKES

Feldman submitted multiple menu concepts to Kitchen Collaborative 2025. Here are two that further showcase her award-winning culinary creativity.

Warm Crispy Chorizo and Salted Caramel Sundae with Chocolate Chip Cookie “Chips”

“The second I discovered a large bag of Hillshire Farms chorizo crumbles from Tyson, I was determined to put it on ice cream,” declares Feldman. “Bacon on ice cream is fantastic, why not chorizo?” Determining the best flavor complement of vanilla ice cream and sausage, she landed on salted caramel, adding toasted pecans, flaky sea salt and a pinch of smoked paprika. She was also pleasantly surprised by the chorizo oil produced after rendering the crumbles and added that, too. “Spoiler alert: Just like olive oil is delicious on ice cream, chorizo oil is next-level delicious,” she says.

Feldman pairs the ice cream with chocolate chip cookie wedges made from Otis Spunkmeyer frozen cookie dough, dipping these in chocolate glaze with more pecans, salt and smoked paprika. “I wanted the cookie wedges to emulate tortilla chips to use for scooping or dipping into the sundae.”

All the flavors are in this dish, says Feldman, citing hot, cold, sweet, salty, spicy, crunchy and melty. The chorizo oil, flaky salt and smoked paprika enhance the flavors of the other ice cream components, lending a certain sophistication. The wedges have a crisp cookie-cracker vibe, she notes, concluding, “This is a sundae with swagger.”

Red Lentil, Corn & Fiscalini Aged Cheddar “Elote” Risotto with Crispy Chorizo and Fried Egg 

“This dish is my interpretation of what would happen if elotes/esquites, huevos rancheros and risotto had a baby,” explains Feldman of her desire to showcase the lentils provided by Lentils.org, Tyson chorizo crumbles and Fiscalini cheddar from Real California Milk.

Use of Arborio as the foundation allowed Feldman to add the split red lentils as a finish, keeping their color and texture intact. The risotto was cooked with a vegetable broth infused with the flavors of Mexican street corn, and then roasted corn and aged cheddar were folded in. To lean into the huevos rancheros profile, she crisped up the chorizo and scattered it across the top of the risotto, along with some diced avocado and a ranchero sauce that she “bumped up” with the same Mexican street corn spices she used in the risotto broth. A fried egg crowns the dish, along with plenty of cheese “snow.” The chef is a firm believer that “there can never be enough grated aged cheddar on a dish.” The Libbey plate she used to present the concept provided “a nice lip to build on.”

“There is a whole world of flavor and texture going on in this dish,” says Feldman. “The risotto has a slight chew from the Arborio and the lentils, plus a pop from the corn. It is earthy from the lentils, slightly sweet from the corn, creamy from the breakdown of the rice and cheddar, and has a smoky, tangy kick from the elote seasoning.” Meanwhile, the chorizo lends crunch, smoke and undertones of paprika, garlic and vinegar, while the fried egg, boasting a slightly puffed crispiness, boosts the luxe quality when its jammy yolk center streams into the risotto. The buttery quality of the avocado is offset by the punch of the elote-influenced ranchero sauce. The grated cheddar delivers umami, while a garnish of scallion and cilantro adds a tiny bit of grassiness to balance the sweetness of the corn.

In the weeks ahead, Flavor & The Menu will continue to feature profiles of each chef behind the 12 winning menu concepts of Kitchen Collaborative 2025.

Kitchen Collaborative Project Management: Summit F&B
JenJen Ziti photo: Photography:  otysonphoto.com // Food Styling: Peg Blackley