How to Buy Pasta Like an Italian: A Practical Aisle Guide

What semolina actually means, what the shape names tell you, why the brightest box is usually a trap, and which Italian pasta brands you should buy.

Italy with Antonio. Honest guides for moving to, traveling in, and understanding Italy from a native Italian. Three articles a week, with deeper resources for paid subscribers. Join 1,000+ subscribers.

If you think Walmart has a lot of pasta options, you haven’t been to a random grocery store in Italy.

Both sides of an entire aisle, every shelf dedicated to nothing but pasta. Dozens of brands, hundreds of shapes, and regional specialties you’ve never heard of.

To a casual observer, they look interchangeable and a little overwhelming. To the Italian cook, these are specific tools for specific jobs.

Italians don’t have an innate ability to find the best pasta, as the Lagotto Romagnolo (the truffle-hunting breed from Romagna) does with truffles. We just cook more pasta than anyone else in the world. We put in the reps.

Buying pasta like an Italian is not gastronomic science. You don’t need decades of practice. A handful of principles will get you most of the way there.

Pasta vs Paste

The plural of pasta in Italian is paste, but pasta is typically treated as uncountable, like “rice” in English. Italians say “tipi di pasta“ for types of pasta. Paste is rarely used for pasta and often means “pastries” instead.

Surface and color of the pasta

Let’s start with one of the most important tells. The texture and color of the pasta itself. The window on pasta boxes is there exactly for this purpose.

The most reliable tell is the surface. If it looks glossy, smooth, and very uniform, it’s industrial. If it looks matte and the surface is slightly rough, it’s artisan or close to it.

Color is a secondary signal, and much like Facebook relationships, it’s complicated.

On the one hand, high-quality Italian durum wheat has a high yellow index, the technical term for its carotenoid content. Good wheat is naturally more yellow.

On the other hand, fast, high-temperature industrial drying processes will caramelize the pasta, also making it yellower.

The trick: bright, plasticky, uniform yellow is the hallmark of cheap pasta. A deeper golden tone usually means high-quality wheat.

The surface difference comes down to trafilatura, the process where the dough gets pushed through a metal die to take its shape.

Cheap pasta gets pushed through Teflon dies quickly and smoothly, yielding perfect-looking pasta.

Higher quality pasta goes through bronze dies, which scratch and rough up the surface of the pasta, making it more imperfect.

Bronze-cut pasta has thousands of little ridges that grab onto the sauce. Teflon-cut pasta is smooth, letting the sauce slide right off.

On the label, look for “trafilatura al bronzo” or “trafilata al bronzo”.

Industrial pasta has to be produced fast, so it is dried at high temperatures between 80 and 100°C in just 2-3 hours. Slow-dried pasta takes a day or two at 40-55°C.

Slow drying, labelled “essiccazione lenta” or “essiccazione a bassa temperatura,” keeps the wheat’s natural aromatics and doesn’t fall apart as easily when cooking.

In short, on the shelf, the surface of the pasta matters more than the exact shade. Matte and slightly rough is what you want. Whether the underlying yellow is pale amber or warm gold depends on the wheat, and both can be excellent.

What semolina actually is

There are two main kinds of wheat flour. Soft, mostly used for bread and pizza. And hard, used for dry pasta. Soft wheat is unsuitable for pasta as it wouldn’t survive boiling.

Soft wheat is called grano tenero in Italian. Hard wheat is called grano duro. (In English, durum wheat.)

The flour milled from hard wheat is called semolina, or in Italian, semola di grano duro.

If you see semola rimacinata, it means it was milled twice for a finer texture, used in some shapes, like orecchiette.

The only ingredient on the label should be semola di grano duro. If the label is in English, durum wheat semolina. That’s it. (OK, water can also be listed.)

If you see additional ingredients such as vegetable oils, stabilizers, “modified starch,” or anything else, put it back on the shelf.

Good dry pasta has high gluten content. Gluten is a protein, so as a proxy, you can look at the protein grams on the nutritional label. High-quality pasta can often hit 13-14 grams of protein for 100 grams of product. Even if you slightly overcook it, it won’t go mushy or become una colla (a glue) as we Italians put it.

If the pasta you’re considering has low protein content, put it back.

One last check you should do is the source of the grain. Aim for grains fully sourced in Italy. If you see “EU and non-EU sources,” you’re buying a mish-mash of Italian, Canadian, and Ukrainian wheats. Whatever was available and cheap.

Italian durum varieties of wheat (Senatore Cappelli is an ancient variety and a particularly good one) tend to behave better when boiled.

Pasta all’uovo: when to buy egg pasta

Pasta all’uovo is egg pasta. To be more exact, it’s a combination of egg and semolina.

The home-cooked ratio is typically one egg per 100 grams of flour. For commercial pasta all’uovo, Italy actually has a law that sets the minimum ratio to be able to legally label the pasta as “all’uovo”. It takes at least 4 whole eggs (or 200 grams of egg) per kilogram of flour.

Most quality brands will have a higher ratio and advertise it on the package.

Look for “uova fresche” (fresh eggs) over “ovoprodotto” (pasteurized egg liquid or powder). The former is more expensive for a reason. Real egg pasta uses fresh whole eggs, and you can taste the difference.

Historically, pasta all’uovo was particularly dominant in the north and center, particularly in Emilia-Romagna.

In terms of pasta shapes, pasta all’uovo is popular for lasagna, filled shapes (ravioli, tortellini, agnolotti, cappelletti), and flat ribbon types like tagliatelle and fettuccine.

Egg pasta is more delicate than regular semolina pasta, but it’s also more flavorful and has a richer, softer texture.

If you’re going to make a ragù alla bolognese, the perfect pairing is tagliatelle all’uovo.

If you are feeding a crowd, plan to have leftovers for a couple of days, or the main star of the meal is a classic sauce like cacio e pepe or aglio e olio, stick to regular semolina pasta.

Fresh vs dried

Dried pasta is firm, holds its shape better, and it survives a busy stove or a partner running late to dinner.

Fresh pasta is softer, more fragile, and cooks in just two or three minutes.

Italians are famous for making fresh pasta from scratch, and there are definitely some advantages. But don’t assume we do so on a daily basis. Fresh pasta is for Sunday meals and special occasions, if you are blessed with a cook in the house who loves to make it.

Most days, we simply use dried pasta, and it works just fine. The one exception is filled pasta like tortellini. You really want fresh pasta. Dried versions exist, of course, but you can taste the difference in texture.

Understanding pasta shapes

Italian pasta comes in all sorts of shapes. Each shape has properties that make it suitable for specific dishes.

The basic idea is that different shapes have different mouthfeel and interact with the sauce in different ways. Food isn’t simply about taste; it’s also about texture.

Let’s have a quick tour of the main families. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it will give you the lay of the land.

Long thin pasta

Capellini: Extremely thin pasta. Think angel-hair. Ideal for delicate broths and light oil sauces. Heavy sauces tend to overwhelm them.

Spaghetti: The all-rounder. One of the most versatile shapes of long pasta, suitable for almost everything.

Spaghettoni: Thicker spaghetti, favored over regular spaghetti for Roman classics like cacio e pepe and carbonara.

Bucatini: Very chunky spaghetti, with a hollow center that holds sauce inside. Fantastic with amatriciana.

Long ribbon pasta

Linguine: Spaghetti is long, thin, and round. Linguine is the slightly flattened counterpart, traditionally paired with pesto, clams, and seafood.

Tagliatelle: Flat ribbons traditionally served with ragù alla bolognese.

Fettuccine: Broad ribbons suited for rich, creamy sauces. Tagliatelle and fettuccine are very similar, but fettuccine is narrower and thicker, making it less delicate.

Pappardelle: Very wide ribbons made for hearty game sauces (boar, hare), mushrooms, and slow-cooked meats.

Tubes

Penne: 1.5-2 inch tubes cut diagonally at both ends. They come rigate (ridged on the outside) or lisce (smooth). They hold sauce well (as all tube pasta does), and they are very common for arrabbiata, vodka, and pesto sauce.

Rigatoni: Same length as penne, but not diagonally cut. Also, much larger diameter and always ridged on the outside. Built for thick meat sauces and many Roman classic sauces.

Mezzi rigatoni: Shorter rigatoni with the same hearty sauce-holding capability.

Mezze maniche: Chunky, short, ridged tubes popular in Rome for carbonara and gricia. In essence, slightly squished mezzi rigatoni.

Ziti: Long, smooth tubes broken by hand before cooking. Popular in the south of Italy. Often baked with ragù and cheese.

Paccheri: Large Neapolitan tubes that are excellent with seafood, meat sauces, or stuffing. They essentially look like larger mezze maniche, but they are smooth, not ridged, and they collapse when cooked, unlike mezze maniche.

Cannelloni: Large tubes that get stuffed, often with spinach and ricotta, and baked. They are a Sunday lunch classic just like lasagne.

Twists and curls

Fusilli: Corkscrew pasta and one of my favorite pasta shapes. The helix design grips chunky vegetable sauces, pesto, and ricotta-based sauces.

Casarecce: Twisted Sicilian pasta shape with grooves that trap rustic sauces.

Trofie: Small Ligurian, irregularly twisted pasta. The best shape for pesto alla genovese.

Busiate: Long Sicilian coils famously paired with pesto alla trapanese. Busiate are longer and more rolled than trofie.

Small concave shapes

Orecchiette: “Little ears” from Puglia that scoop up greens, sausage ragù, and chunky sauces. Orecchiette con cime di rapa e salsiccia are legendary, and so are the famous (and now legally embattled) nonne selling them in Bari.

Conchiglie: Shell-shaped pasta that captures sauces (and seafood) inside its hollow center.

Farfalle: Bow-tie pasta that resembles “butterflies.” The texture changes from the center to the edges. It’s a delicate pasta that shouldn’t be overwhelmed with heavy, meaty sauces.

Pastina

Pastina is a group of tiny pasta shapes used for broth and soup. Stelline (tiny stars) are the classic comfort food for sick Italian kids. Ditalini (little tubes, rigate or lisce) are the canonical shape for pasta e fagioli and other legume soups. Anellini are small rings; larger versions appear in Sicilian baked pasta dishes.

Sheet pasta

Lasagne: Wide sheets layered and baked in dishes like lasagna (and vincisgrassi in the Marche region).

Filled pasta

Tortellini: Small and ring-shaped, they are traditionally filled with meat and served in broth.

Tortelloni: A larger version of tortellini, often filled with ricotta or vegetables and served with sauce.

Cappelletti: “Little hats” often served in broth, especially in Romagna and Marche. A legit alternative to tortellini.

Ravioli: Flat stuffed parcels with endlessly varied regional fillings.

Agnolotti: Piedmontese stuffed pasta, especially famous in its delicate “plin” version.

When would I choose tortellini vs cappelletti? They are both suitable for the same purpose. At some point, you’ll try both and figure out which one appeals to you the most. The difference is fairly subtle.

The dry pasta brand hierarchy

At risk of starting a civil war in Italy, I’m going to recommend a few brands I personally trust at various tiers and price points.

This is an informed opinion, shared by many Italians. But it is an opinion. Please try them and form your own opinions about which brands work best for you.

As a reminder, aside from personal experience, the dividing lines are characterized by:

• Teflon vs bronze dies

• Fast industrial drying vs slow low-temp drying

• Commodity grain vs curated/Italian/single-origin grain

• Industrial consistency vs artisan flavor

The difference shows up in how the sauce binds to the pasta and the taste of the pasta itself. This isn’t snobbery. You can genuinely taste the difference.

I’m including the price of a pack of spaghetti for the cheapest brand in the group, to offer a reference point.

Cheap industrial pasta brands

• Barilla (standard line)

• Divella

• Granoro (standard line)

Price example: $1.84 for Barilla Spaghetti 1 lb/454 g.

They’re not bad. They’re industrial Teflon-cut and dried fast, but they work. Millions of Italians use them as they are cheap. A step up from grocery-store brands.

Good supermarket pasta brands

• De Cecco

• Garofalo

• Voiello

• Rummo

• La Molisana

Price example: $2.78 for De Cecco Spaghetti 1 lb/454 g.

A significant improvement over the cheap ones, while remaining affordable. Arguably the sweet spot.

Take La Molisana, for example. They use bronze dies and wheat from Italy selected for its high protein content (never below 14%). It’s also tested in their own labs and milled in their mills. It’s industrial, yes, but they do a seriously good job, and it shows.

If you asked me which widely available brand to buy in North America, I would suggest La Molisana or Rummo (in that order, subject to your local availability). If you can’t find them, order them online or look for De Cecco, which is an acceptable, if less ideal choice.

Artisan pasta brands

• Di Martino

• Rustichella d’Abruzzo

• Felicetti

• Faella

• Pastificio Gentile

• Verrigni

• Mancini

• Martelli

• Pastificio dei Campi

• Benedetto Cavalieri

• La Fabbrica della Pasta

Price example 1: $5.00 for Di Martino Spaghetti 1 lb/454 g.

Price example 2: $10.50 for Faella Spaghetti 1.1 lb/500 g.

From Di Martino’s own page: “Our pasta is PGI Certified Gragnano Pasta, bronze-die, slowly dried at low temperatures, made with 100% Italian durum wheat semolina and local spring water. Contains a minimum of 14% protein, firm to cooking, and highly digestible.”

PGI Certified Gragnano pasta is a big deal. You’re getting pasta made under strict traditional standards: bronze-die extrusion, slow low-temperature drying, single-source wheat, and production in Gragnano itself, the historic pasta capital near Naples.

For some of these brands, we are in diminishing returns territory. You’re the kind of person who must absolutely try the best and doesn’t mind paying over $10 for a pack of pasta. These are the brands to try.

Almost nobody in Italy spends 10 euros on a pack of pasta every day. It’s a special-occasion choice for genuine pasta connoisseurs.

(If you are in Italy, these artisanal pastas are still expensive, but they would be more affordable than when imported overseas.)

Best pasta all’uovo brands

• Spinosi

• La Campofilone

• Pastificio Alfieri

• Filotea

Price example: $8.10 for Spinosi Tagliolini 0.55 lbs/250g

These are the ones worth splurging for. Their dried egg pasta is top-notch. Other brands recommended in the sections above also have very respectable egg pasta lines that are generally more affordable.

Buy high-quality pasta and don’t overcook it

Stick to any of those brands, and you’ll get a decent, in some cases, amazing pasta that will impress even your Italian friends.

It’s your job to cook it al dente and not let it sit in the boiling pot for too long. But the prime material you are working with is genuinely good.

The pasta aisle is the most honest section of any Italian grocery store. The packaging tells you exactly what you’re buying, in detail, if you’re willing to flip the box over.

Most people don’t. They grab the brightest one and walk on.

Now you won’t.

---

Understand Italy before you arrive.

New posts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: cultural pieces and step-by-step guides for people planning a move.

Paid subscribers get every post; free subscribers get a large selection.

---