My notes while trying to find the best dried pasta you can buy (spoiler alert: it's Afeltra).
read moreMom got some amazing pastas from "La Molisana", which is an Italian manufacturer. She says she bought them for $2 / pound. The types are: Fusilli-like spirals: Fusilli Corti Bucati 108 Round spaghetti-Os: Anelli Siciliani 60A Flat ones: Pantacce Toscane 106 Pasta brands: Mancini: • Spaghetti alla Chitarra. Nothing special, probably about the same or not as good as Afeltra. La Molisana: • Alla Chitarra 15B (thick spaghetti) • De Cecco Racchette, No. 90 (rackets, really great) • Rigatoni (tastes great) • Penne Ziti Rigate 20B (really great with soupy sauce and very undercooked, could get a lot) • Anelli Siciliana 60 A (tastes great) • Spaghettini 16B (tastes great, even though it's long pasta) • Linguini (also great, not as good as the spaghettini 16B though) • Should try the other sizes of spaghetti, but not in large quantity to start out. Would probably want to try the Spaghetti (15) Will want to try: • https://www.pastamancini.com/en/pasta • Anything made by Rigorosa • https://www.gustiamo.com/spaghetti-by-martelli/ Todo • Should read and research about pasta types, like what's involved in the drying, the ingredients, etc. • https://www.eataly.com/us_en/magazine/how-to/guide-to-pasta-shapes/ Raos: • Rigatoni ⁃ Eh, maybe slightly better than the Molisana, but probably about the same. Not particularly chewy or anything, probably wouldn't pass a blind test. • Penne ⁃ Pretty good, nothing especially amazing. Pretty big, not anything especially chewy, but tasted nice. • Orrechiette ⁃ Not that good, tasted kind of cheap, and was very chewy but not in a very good way. DeCecco: • Pretty much any type from them is good. This should be purchased over Barilla any day. Afeltra: • Calamari 17.6 oz ⁃ This was really good. This pasta is very chewy. Closest so far to what you get at a high end place. ⁃ Takes a very long time to cook, which is great. Basically impossible to overcook, could take it out at al dente or later, and still very chewy and firm. • Spaghetti 17.6 oz ⁃ This was also really good, pasta wasn't particularly chewy, but it was very high quality and rather thick. Very rough, sauce stuck well, stayed pretty firm. ⁃ Takes a very long time to cook, also very hard to overcook. Very firm, great stuff. • Eliche Giganti ⁃ This was insanely fucking good. Probably the best one of them all. Il Pastaio Di Gragnano: • Calamari Pasta 17.6 oz ⁃ Was definitely chewy and good, but didn't stand out as especially good. Not as good as Afeltra. • Vesuvio ⁃ Not a very tasty shape, don't love it. Decently chewy but cooks a bit too quickly maybe? Rigorosa: • Linguine ⁃ Not especially good at all, not really that chewy. Tasted no better than La Molisana I'd say. • Penne ⁃ A bit chewy, pretty great penne overall. Not a standout winner or anything though. Lydia's: • Capellini ⁃ No. Terrible. Never again. It was way too thin, probably just hated the pasta type, but it was bad. • Penne ⁃ Wow, really quite good. At least as good as La Molisana, but different enough to be worth while. Should get to mix things up. Matt: • Penne Lisce ⁃ No, not at all. Just tasted like regular barilla. Nothing special. Very smooth, boring, way overpriced. Never get again. Benedetto Cavalieri • Ruote Pazze (roselle that's extra deep basically). Really really good. One of the best ones. Note: the long pastas go incredibly well with the home-made sauce. Terms: • De Cecco (deh-checko) • Molto al dente (undercooked, this means literally very al dente, so very "to the tooth"). Poco is the opposite (not much/very little). NEW PASTA TYPE TO TRY/INVESTIGATE: • Would love to find the dry pastas that taste chewy, like at Eataly and other very nice restaurants. ⁃ https://www.eataly.com/us_en/our-producers/rigorosa (reviewed by someone, said it took very long to cook and was chewy) ⁃ Should research more pastas to find ones that might be chewy Where to buy: Since Walmart is very often out of stock, Vitacost is a great place to buy. Shipping is free over $50, but it's hard to get an order that big. You are limited to a certain number of bags of certain ones, like Anelli (4). Vitacost. Coupon for $5 off order of $30 or more: GROUPON5. This brings effective price down to $1.70 without shipping. Amazon does sometimes work well, at only $2.20 / pound with free shipping: https://www.amazon.com/Molisana-Spaghettini-Bronzo-Pound-Pack/dp/B078GMZL1B/ ($2.69 per pound) ShopGourmet.com offers packs of 12 for $32.00, with free shipping. Has the Corti Bucati and others. Using code: SG2015 got 10% discount (might only be first order), which came to $2.41. Good thing is they seem to always be in stock possibly. Shipping is also always free. This might work every time: RMN5OFF (5% off). ($2.28 per pound) Walmart.com as individual packs, free 2-day shipping on orders over $35. Has Bucati and others. ($2.44 per pound effective, $1.61 actual) Vicacost.com. Mom found. Actually has the Anelli! Shipping is $5, which is what brings up the effective price. They have some other types as well. Plan: try the other pasta we haven't tried. If it's also really good, then go to the Walmart page and buy a bunch of each and some of the others ones to try in an order that's over $35 so the shipping is free. Round #1: Got an assorted shipment from mom. Got Anelli, spirals (not good), and a linguine. Round #2: Purchased Rigatoni, Anelli (o rings), and Alla Chitarra (thick spaghetti). Bought 18 pack of Spaghettini (16B). Should try the other spaghetti sizes next time, but don't get a huge batch. Round #3: Just bought 12 pounds of Rigatoni, because it's like the best. Round #4: A whole bunch of stuff from Eataly. Like 5 different brands, 12 different pastas. Should order as much Rigorosa as possible next time, once Eataly has it in stock.