Which Pasta Should I Buy? A Guide to Choosing the Best Italian Pasta

Pasta should be simple. Then you stand in front of a shelf filled with spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, egg tagliatelle, bronze-drawn pasta, slow-dried pasta and half a dozen different brands, and suddenly there is quite a lot to think about.

So, which pasta should you actually buy?

The answer depends on what you are cooking.

The ingredients, type of wheat, pasta-making process, shape and even the sauce you plan to serve can all make a difference. A delicate egg tagliatelle isn't trying to do the same job as a sturdy durum wheat rigatoni, and one Italian pasta brand may use a very different production process from another.

Here is what to look for when choosing Italian pasta, including the differences between De Cecco, La Molisana and Rummo, three of the pasta makers you'll find on our shelves.

 

What Makes a Good Quality Pasta?

At its simplest, traditional dried Italian pasta is made from durum wheat semolina and water.

So how can two packets containing essentially the same ingredients be different?

Quite a lot happens between the wheat field and the finished packet.

The quality of the durum wheat

Durum wheat is naturally suited to pasta because it produces a firm dough capable of retaining its structure during cooking.

Protein content can also be useful to look at. For example, La Molisana specifies that its classic pasta contains at least 14% protein, something the company links with the firmness and cooking resistance of its pasta.

Bronze-drawn pasta

You'll often see bronze drawn, or trafilata al bronzo, written on Italian pasta.

This refers to how the dough is shaped.

The dough is pushed through a metal die containing openings in the shape of spaghetti, penne, rigatoni or whichever pasta is being produced.

Bronze dies create a rougher, more porous exterior than very smooth pasta production methods. That texture matters because it gives the sauce more surface to cling to.

De Cecco, La Molisana and Rummo all use bronze dies within their pasta-making processes.

Drying

After pasta has been shaped, moisture needs to be removed so that it can be stored as dried pasta.

The temperature and length of the drying process varies considerably between manufacturers.

This is one of the biggest differences between the three brands we're looking at.

De Cecco uses slow, low-temperature drying. La Molisana describes its process as medium-temperature drying, while Rummo varies its drying time and temperature according to the particular pasta shape.

None of this means there is one universally "best" process.

It simply helps explain why different Italian pasta brands can have noticeably different texture and cooking characteristics despite starting with very similar ingredients.

 

Egg Pasta vs Regular Pasta: What's the Difference?

This is probably one of the easiest decisions to make once you understand what each type of pasta is designed to do.

Regular dried pasta

Most traditional dried pasta is made using durum wheat semolina and water.

Think spaghetti, linguine, penne, fusilli, rigatoni and paccheri.

This style of pasta generally gives you a firmer, more robust bite and is incredibly versatile. It can stand up beautifully to tomato sauces, olive oil, seafood, vegetables, pesto, cheese and hearty meat sauces.

Egg pasta

Egg pasta includes eggs in the dough, creating a richer pasta with a softer, more delicate character.

Rummo, for example, makes its egg pasta with fresh Italian eggs and durum wheat. Its egg range includes tagliatelle, pappardelle, fettuccine, tagliolini, lasagne and cannelloni.

De Cecco also produces a dedicated egg pasta range using fresh eggs.

Egg pasta is particularly at home with rich sauces such as ragù, butter and Parmigiano, mushrooms and creamy sauces.

Tagliatelle with ragù is perhaps the classic example.

Is egg pasta better than regular pasta?

No.

This isn't really about better or worse.

It is about what texture and richness you want from the finished dish.

If you're making spaghetti with tomato and basil, a classic durum wheat spaghetti makes perfect sense.

If you're making a rich slow-cooked ragù, the broader, softer surface of an egg tagliatelle or pappardelle can be wonderful.

 

Which Pasta Is Best for Which Sauce?

Italians don't simply choose a pasta shape because it looks nice.

The shape determines how the pasta interacts with the sauce.

As a general rule:

Long, thinner pasta such as spaghetti and linguine works particularly well with lighter sauces, seafood, olive oil and smoother sauces.

Thicker ribbons such as tagliatelle and pappardelle can handle richer meat sauces and ragù.

Tubes such as penne, rigatoni and paccheri are excellent with thicker sauces because sauce can cling to the outside and collect inside the pasta.

Twisted or ridged pasta such as fusilli and casarecce gives sauces plenty of edges and grooves to hold onto.

Very small pasta works particularly well in soups and broths.

Good Food similarly recommends lighter sauces with long, slender pasta and larger tubes or wider shapes for thicker, more substantial sauces.

So sometimes the question isn't simply:

Which pasta brand should I buy?

It is:

Which pasta shape should I buy for this sauce?

 

De Cecco Pasta: What Makes It Different?

De Cecco comes from Fara San Martino in Abruzzo, one of Italy's historic pasta-making areas.

Its approach begins with the semolina.

De Cecco says it mills its wheat to produce a coarser-grained semolina than is normally used for pasta. This requires longer hydration but is intended to preserve the integrity of the gluten structure.

The semolina is mixed with cold Majella mountain water at below 15°C.

The pasta is then:

• shaped using rough bronze dies

• slowly dried

• dried at low temperatures

The drying process is particularly important to De Cecco's method.

Depending on the pasta shape, De Cecco states that drying starts at around nine hours for short pasta and 18 hours for long pasta, reaching up to 36 hours for certain long hollow formats.

Why choose De Cecco?

Choose De Cecco if you like a traditional, firm Italian dried pasta and are particularly interested in the combination of coarse semolina, cold mountain water, bronze drawing and slow low-temperature drying.

It is also a lovely pasta to explore if you're interested in the food of Abruzzo, where the De Cecco story began.

 

La Molisana Pasta: What Makes It Different?

La Molisana comes from Molise, the little Italian region that gives the company its name.

One of the most distinctive things about La Molisana is its involvement throughout the production chain.

The company describes an integrated supply chain incorporating wheat fields, silos, the mill and the pasta factory, and its classic range is currently made using 100% Italian wheat.

The wheat also undergoes a hulling process before traditional milling, removing much of the outer bran layer before the grain becomes semolina.

At the pasta factory, La Molisana says its dough is approximately 70% semolina and 30% water.

After around 15 minutes of working the dough, it passes through bronze dies.

La Molisana then dries its pasta at what it calls a medium temperature, with drying lasting around three hours for short shapes and up to ten hours for long pasta.

Its classic pasta also has a protein content of at least 14%.

Why choose La Molisana?

La Molisana is particularly interesting if you're looking for 100% Italian wheat, high protein content, bronze-drawn texture and strong cooking resistance.

It is also a brilliant brand for exploring different pasta shapes, including its distinctive Spaghetto Quadrato, a square spaghetti shape introduced by the company in 2013.

 

Rummo Pasta: What Is Lenta Lavorazione?

If you've picked up a packet of Rummo, you've probably noticed the words Lenta Lavorazione.

It translates roughly as slow processing, but it refers to much more than simply drying the pasta slowly.

Rummo divides its Lenta Lavorazione method into seven phases.

It begins with selecting ingredients and carefully mixing the wheat and water.

The dough is then extruded through special bronze dies, giving the pasta its rough surface.

During drying, Rummo changes the time and temperature according to the particular pasta shape rather than treating every shape identically.

Then comes one of the most interesting stages.

Two chefs cook and taste pasta from each production lot. Its firmness is also measured using an instrument called a dynamometer, designed to reproduce the resistance experienced when biting the pasta.

Rummo then includes packaging controls and external certification as the final stages of the process.

Why choose Rummo?

Rummo places a particularly strong emphasis on cooking performance and maintaining an al dente texture.

Its professional range, for example, specifically highlights the pasta's ability to remain al dente after sautéing and double cooking.

So if maintaining a firm bite is especially important to you, Rummo is a very interesting pasta to try.

 

Rummo Gluten Free Pasta: How Is It Made?

Gluten-free pasta presents a completely different challenge.

Traditional durum wheat pasta relies on the structure created by wheat proteins. Remove the wheat and manufacturers need another way of creating a pasta that can hold together and still deliver a satisfying texture.

Rummo's gluten-free pasta uses corn and brown rice.

The two are combined using Rummo's Metodo di Lavorazione al Vapore, which translates as its Steam Processing Method.

Rummo says the process uses steam to combine the corn and brown rice into a soft, balanced dough with the consistency it wants for its finished gluten-free pasta.

The range includes familiar pasta shapes including spaghetti, linguine, penne rigate, fusilli and mezzi rigatoni.

That means choosing gluten free doesn't necessarily mean abandoning the pasta shapes you're used to cooking with.

 

De Cecco vs La Molisana vs Rummo: What's the Difference?

All three are established Italian pasta makers, and all three make pasta using carefully selected durum wheat and techniques designed to produce good texture and sauce adhesion.

The main difference is where each company places its emphasis.

De Cecco is particularly known for its coarse semolina, cold Majella mountain water, bronze drawing and long, low-temperature drying.

La Molisana focuses strongly on its integrated supply chain, 100% Italian wheat, hulling process, high protein content, bronze drawing and medium-temperature drying.

Rummo uses its seven-stage Lenta Lavorazione method, varying processing according to the pasta shape and testing the finished pasta specifically for firmness and cooking performance.

There isn't necessarily a correct answer between them.

In fact, the best way to discover the difference might be the most Italian solution of all:

Try them.

Cook the same shape from different brands with the same sauce and see which texture you prefer.

 

So, Which Pasta Should I Buy?

If you're still looking at the pasta shelf wondering what to put in your basket, here's the simplest way to decide.

For an everyday Italian pasta:
Choose a good-quality durum wheat semolina pasta.

For tomato, olive oil, pesto or seafood dishes:
Start with traditional durum wheat pasta and choose the shape according to the sauce.

For a rich ragù:
Try a wider pasta such as tagliatelle or pappardelle. Egg pasta can be particularly good here.

For thick, chunky sauces:
Look for rigatoni, paccheri, penne, fusilli or another shape capable of trapping plenty of sauce.

If you love a firm al dente texture:
Rummo is particularly worth trying because cooking resistance forms an important part of its Lenta Lavorazione method.

If you're interested in slow low-temperature drying:
De Cecco places this at the heart of its pasta-making process.

If you want 100% Italian wheat and high-protein pasta:
La Molisana's Classic range is made from Italian wheat and contains at least 14% protein.

If you need gluten-free pasta:
Rummo's corn and brown-rice pasta offers familiar Italian shapes made using its dedicated steam-processing method.

And if you're still not sure, don't worry too much about finding one "best" packet.

The fun is in matching the pasta to the dish.

Because choosing Italian pasta isn't really about finding a winner.

It's about finding the pasta that works beautifully with what you're cooking tonight.