Italian pasta, in all its forms, is more than a staple food: it’s centuries of craft and tradition. This guide cuts through marketing hype to shine a spotlight on the best Italian pasta brands: manufacturers of authentic pasta that makes its mark on tables everywhere.
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All of these Italian brands are integral parts of the culinary mosaic that is Italy, and all of them have something unique, each adding its own signature to the great tapestry of Italian cooking.
If you are a chef, you will likely already have used them; if you’re cooking for yourself and your family, adding some of these pastas to your repertoire will guarantee a genuine Italian meal. A damn good one.
The Best Italian Pasta Brands to Buy
1. Barilla
Hailing from the city of Parma, Barilla was born in 1877 and is probably the most famous pasta name in the entire world. Supplying a panoply of shapes and a passion for quality durum wheat, Barilla offers everything from everyday spaghetti to more elaborate forms with ridges or holes designed to catch all kinds of sauce.
2. De Cecco
Since 1886, the serious pasta makers of De Cecco have been working in Abruzzo. Durum wheat and mountain spring water are their secret ingredients, and the result has been a quality name for decades. And they don’t intend to stop now.
3. Rummo
Rummo, established in Benevento in 1846, are another serious pasta company, having perfected a slow-processing technique that keeps the noodles’ texture and flavor intact, even after you boil the heck out of them. They have everything from classics to gluten-free and organic — something for everyone.
4. Divella
Divella has been doing it right since 1890, using local and EU-sourced wheat (quite a strict code of quality, especially for Italian standards) in a brand that has become a global player in the industry far beyond Italy’s borders, selling its pasta assortment of shapes, plus olive oil and sauces. It’s pasta with a capital P for the in-the-know world.
5. La Molisana
La Molisana, the longtime Molise underdog, uses fine durum wheat and mountain water to produce its signature pastas – including a square-cut spaghetti chitarra, known for its special texture and perfect match with simple, rustic sauces. This is pasta that’s worthy of attention.
6. Antico Pastificio Morelli
Since the mid-1860s, the Pastificio Morelli has distinguished itself from the crowd by returning the wheat germ to the pasta, thereby giving the dough a much richer taste, and also making it more nutritious. It is a treasure among gourmets for its artisanal methods and its history.
7. Granoro Dedicato
Founded in 1967 in Puglia by Attilio Mastromauro, Granoro Dedicato uses 100% Puglian wheat and is especially known for its ‘free from’ range of gluten-free pastas that includes the quinoa pasta as well as keeping standards high for taste and texture.
8. Rustichella d’Abruzzo
The Pescara-based Rustichella d’Abruzzo is the kind of pasta producer with a heart. It has been turning out its artisan product since 1924, using traditional methods and has a texture that works with pretty much any sauce you can throw at it.
9. Libera Terra
Started in Sicily in 2001, Libera Terra is as much about pasta as it is about principled action. A mafia-seized land used as a rallying point for the oppressed is now transformed into a symbol of hope, producing high-quality, organic pasta. The pasta with social justice, one forkful at a time.
10. Felicetti
Felicetti draws from mountain water to make their pasta, which gives some of their pasta flavors an extra resonant edge (they roll out some ancient grains, too, pairing taste and tradition).
11. Pastificio Garofalo
Garofalo is from Gragnano where the climate of this Italian town is perfect for primo pasta-making – and they’ve been at it since 1789. It’s texture and flavor are centuries of craft paying off. Definitely some of the best of the best Italian pasta brands.
12. Voiello
Established in 1879, Voiello's pasta line features premium ingredients such penne lisce, a silky noodle that complements hearty meat sauces. This is the pinnacle of Italian pasta making: a fusion of old and new.
13. Pastificio Liguori
As the first pasta company in Italy to get IGP accreditation, Liguori takes great delight in making the best pasta in Italy, which it claims to have a greater protein content than competing brands. Crafted with just the finest Italian grains and pure Monti Lattari spring water, it is sure to please.
14. Marella
The artisanal Marella brand represents the long-standing Puglia pasta-making heritage. Using bronze dies to mold the pasta for an ideal sauce grip and organic manufacturing are two of the company's defining features.
15. Alfieri
Pastificio Alfieri, located in the Piemontese town of Asti, another newcomer on the list, founded in 1996, but it is rapidly becoming known for its artisanal pasta made from the best ingredients. It has a full range of specialty egg pastas that includes tajarin and agnolotti. These are the pastas with depth of flavor and silkiness of texture.
16. Mancini Pastificio Agricolo
Mancini seems to take farm-to-table to a new level: since the pasta maker not only grows its own wheat but transforms it into flour in its own mill, one need not fear that any subpar grains will contaminate the blend. Their artisanal process and the traceability of the ingredients are what make their pasta rougher and better at holding sauce.
17. Delverde
Located in the Majella National Park, Delverde uses the low mineral content water of the Verde River in their pastas, which they say adds to the flavor and quality of their product, which comes in every conceivable shape and size, such as the small tubular orzo perfect for soups.
18. Benedetto Cavalieri
Benedetto Cavalieri – a little-known brand on these shores – prides itself on a ‘delicate’ production process, involving prolonged kneading, slow pressing and low-temperature drying, to retain as much of the wheat’s natural flavors as possible, with the added bonus of excellent texture.
19. Buitoni
Buitoni has a long history of producing high-quality pasta and sauces, particularly fresh pasta prepared using time-honored techniques, from its founding in Tuscany in 1827.
20. Pasta Zara
Pasta Zara has been a part of the Italian pasta market since the beginning of the 20th century: it is widely considered to have a balanced texture and the ability to complement various types of sauce. It’s one of the Italian pasta brands that people trust when they are not looking to "experiment".
What Italian Consumers Look for in a Pasta
No pasta is so grand that Italians won’t zoom in and over-analyze texture, taste and the way it clings to a sauce When it comes to food, Italians are deeply concerned with that hard-to-define but obvious thing called "quality. They recognize it when they see it. It isn’t snobbery or preciousness – at least not beyond that of the typical gourmand – it’s a centuries-old, well-honed gastronomic tradition. Anything else loses points.
Texture
Texture trumps all. Italians eat pasta made to achieve the ‘al dente’ – the right level of firmness that requires a precise cooking time – not just because they want it that way, but because it will provide the mouthfeel that is the partner of the subtleties of the sauces.
Flavor
Good flavor is important too. Good pasta should have a light, wheaty taste that, although not dominating, should be clear and distinctive enough to be enjoyed in its own right, thus standing up to the best, strongest sauces, as well as to the more delicate.
Compatibility
Sauceability is a must. Italian cuisine is all about sauce – anything from rich ragùs to light, fresh tomato sauces – and it’s in this sphere that a pasta’s surface texture is most important. Some pastas are designed to hold sauce more than others – ridged pastas such as penne rigate are ideal for thicker sauces, where the ridges help to bring the sauce to your fork.
My Preferred Italian Pasta Brands
To many home cooks and chefs alike, brands such De Cecco and Garofalo are pure gold, enjoying unquestioned quality and supreme cooking performance on menus in Italy and in my kitchen.
Best Italian Pasta Brands: Dry Pasta
Dry pasta brands such as Divella and Delverde become cornerstones of pantries worldwide because they employ traditional drying methods that preserve and accentuate the flavors in the wheat.
Italian Pastas Brands: Gluten-Free Options
Felicia and Granoro Dedicato are pioneers in the gluten-free pasta revolution, bringing a whole new world of pasta to those wanting to eat more healthily: rice, corn and quinoa used in multiple varieties and combinations to create pasta that has the ability to withstand any sauce, food festooned with garnishes, in keeping with the taste of ‘the old-fashioned pasta’.
Best Artisan Italian Pasta Brands
Real artisanal Italian pasta brands, such as Pastificio Gentile and Alfieri, where you’re still watching a maestro do it with an old-school extrudor, sticking with the standards – bronze die extrusion, drying at low and slow temps – is the ticket to getting that quality pasta texture. This is pasta royalty.
Best Whole Wheat Italian Pasta Brands
Felicetti and Garofolo are on to something: their whole wheat pastas have rightfully taken their place in the markets. Now, for everybody who cares about health, but also wants their pasta to taste good, there’s something worthy of a hearty chew and a clean conscience.
The Art of Cooking Pasta Al Dente
Cooking pasta al dente — literally ‘to the tooth’ — is nothing less than a fundamental technique of Italian cooking in its own right. The ultimate test of al dente pasta is that it should be just firm enough at the bite for the cook’s incisors to register the fact that they are chewing — a sort of friction.
Italians would never dream of using overcooked, soggy pasta. It would be terrible! They insist that pasta be cooked at the correct point in the cooking cycle and no more. Thus, pasta cooked to its ‘alpha’ texture retains its shape and texture not in juxtaposition to the sauce, but in equal association with it. It ‘holds its own as an ingredient’ with a distinctive texture.
Process
Choosing the appropriate pasta is the first step. Because it keeps its shape and stiffness better when cooked, high-quality durum wheat semolina pasta is perfect. How pasta absorbs water and cooks depends on several factors, including its shape and size.
Water and Timing
Water plays a crucial role in this equation; in fact, it almost ensures that the end product will be al dente. After seasoning with salt (enough so that it has the salinity of ocean water), it is cooked in a big pot until it boils.
While the cooking time on the box or bag is typically spot on, it's a good idea to taste test the pasta a few minutes before the timer goes off, just to be safe.
Also, pasta won't attach to other pasta when cooked with the right amount of water, which lowers the starch content.
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