A digestible guide to dried pasta

Good things take time: slow-dried is the way to go

This article was originally published on Italy Segreta. The full article with photos can be accessed here.

Visitors find pasta in Italy to be a revelation. When friends tell me stories of their recent trips here, life-changing primi almost always make an appearance–as do statements like “I ate pasta every day while in Italy, and I felt great,” accompanied by gesticulations of incredulity, especially from the gluten-free ones. And though many chalk it up to the (much-circulated) image that sees fresh pasta being laboriously handmade with much attention given to ingredients and their sourcing, the truth is that it all boils down to dried pasta–and not for the reasons you might expect.

When I first moved to Italy, I too had the romantic idea that fresh pasta was an everyday luxury, part of the slow-living mantra that the country is famous for. And, to be fair, that romantic idea often does get thrown at you here. Walk past restaurants and trattorias in the city center of Rome, and you’ll see women (most often elderly ones) rolling out fresh pasta by hand through the windows, flinging together cavatelli, pappardelle, and tonnarelli like a pianist playing notes by heart. In Puglia’s capital, Bari, nonne famously sit on stools in the streets, thumbing little balls of dough into orecchiette, to be topped with cime di rapa.

The reality is, however, that fresh pasta is a once-in-a-while occasion, even for Italians. Walk through any Italian grocery store and the real consumption habits are clear: entire aisles are dedicated to a single staple pantry item, dried pasta, with a wide-ranging selection of shapes, sizes, and brands to choose from. Far from the oft-dreamed-of pasta grannies, most restaurants use the exact same dried pastas in their preparations as Italians do at home.

And though dried pasta may seem like a product of the 20th century’s industrial boon, it’s actually been around long before this–long before Italy was even established as a country. While the origins of pasta are ancient (and contradictory), the innovation of drying pasta can be traced back to what is now Sicily, durings its Arab domination circa 1000 AD. With the conquerors came a new era of sea-based trade–and fresh pasta couldn’t weather the long distances undertaken in transport. In order to extend the carb’s lifetime, pasta began to be dried in the island’s famed sunshine (this heat source is now mimicked by industrial ovens and production facilities). The innovation of dried pasta, however, was also made possible by another culinary invention of the same timeframe: cooking pasta in boiling water. That said, dried pasta did not pervade the everyman’s mealtime table until the 1800s, when technological advancements allowed for industrial production–this time, the epicenter was Naples, where the wheat-based food supplemented the locals’ diet as vegetables and meat became scarce.

Fast forward to the mid-20th century, and dried pasta further cements its place in the Italian pantry. As Italian women began to pursue higher education and take full-time jobs outside of the home, family dynamics around meals changed and dried pasta replaced fresh pasta as the more practical and popular choice for the modern family. (A point driven home during my time as a nanny, when I took on the duty of dinner preparation and had little time to do so between the kids’ schools, sports, and bedtimes.)

But, beyond the history, what perhaps most shattered my conception of fresh pasta superiority is that, for many Italians, dried pasta is preferred. It has more bite and texture, they argue. And, just as fresh pasta isn’t inherently better, not all dried pastas are created equal. (Again for the people in the back: not all dried pastas are created equal!)

To help you understand why some are higher quality than others (both in taste and on the stomach), here are five factors to keep in mind the next time you wander down the endless grocery aisle of dried pasta–and wonder why the pasta really is just so much better in Italy. (Italy holds first place for per capita consumption of pasta, at 23.5 kg per year, per the International Pasta Organization, so you better believe Italians know best when it comes to the beloved carb.)

Wheat

Most commonly, pasta is made with semolina flour which comes from durum wheat. And though many bags of commercial pasta found in grocery stores will be advertised as “Made in Italy”, it’s legal for the grain to be grown elsewhere–and it often is. According to The Observatory of Economic Complexity, €2.38 billion worth of wheat is imported, making Italy the world’s seventh largest importer, and the majority of durum wheat used in Italy is imported from Canada, Australia, Greece, and France, per Harvard’s Growth Lab. For higher-quality pasta (and to support local foodways), look instead for Italian brands that source local wheat or grow their own. Bonus points if they use ancient grains, superior for digestion and nutritional value.

A good example? Pasta Tirrena, one of the few that checks all the boxes. Their ancient grain varieties of Senatore Cappelli, Khorasan, and Evoldur are grown on-site in Tuscany, and their pasta is slow-dried at temperatures below 38°C for over 72 hours (more on why this is important soon).

Artisan Methods of Production: Shaping

Quality in the production process comes down to two major stages: shaping and drying. Regarding the former, trafile (pasta molds) allow for speed and volume that those preparing handmade pasta could never meet. Artisanal pasta companies opt for bronze molds, which have small pores that mimic the handmade process and impart a rougher texture to the pasta. These “imperfections” allow sauce to cling onto the noodle–a gold standard for high-quality pasta. On the other hand, industrial production methods utilize Teflon molds; the resulting smooth noodles cause the sauce to slip off. Unsurprisingly, bronze trafile are more expensive to make and harder to replace, while Teflon is the opposite: fast, uniform, disposable.

Artisan Methods of Production: Drying

When it comes to the second step, slow-drying is one of the key factors that determines dried pasta quality and lends itself to more flavorful and digestible dishes. Industrially produced pasta is rapidly dried at a high heat–for a total of less than three hours–burning the natural sugars present in the dough and breaking down the structure of the pasta. In contrast, slow drying pasta can take anywhere from 12 up to 144 hours at ambient temperature, allowing the structure of the gluten to stay relaxed. Not only is this molecular structure easier on our digestions, but allows–yet again!–for greater sauce retention. Look for pastas that are dried at 38°C or below for 72 hours or more for the highest quality.

Water

One of the little-lauded ingredients of a great pasta dish is the pasta water; starchy and salty, it adds richness and lusciousness to any sauce, even if it is just cacio e pepe. The slow-drying pasta process allows starches and sugar to remain stable in the dough until cooking, when they’re released into the water–the perfect secret ingredient for a luxurious plate of pasta. On the other hand, the industrial/fast-dried method burns the sugars, resulting in very little to no released starch and flavorless pasta water.

Culture

After the dough is formed, shapes are made and dried, and pasta is placed on a plate in front of you, then what? The slow-drying method is not the only slow practice that’s followed in Italy. The practice of how you eat is just as important as what you eat. Eating slowly, mindfully, and in the company of others has proved to be beneficial in the digestion process. The culture of conviviality is one of the most forgotten aspects of the slow-life slogan, especially in regards to mealtime. It’s the reason why Sunday lunches are four courses long and last hours on end, or simple Friday night dinners with friends are remembered as some of the most enjoyable meals. Good things take time–especially when it comes to pasta.

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-Tana