Foodie Facts Part 1- Fun Pasta- History

It’s foodie Friday and I’ve got a pasta craving. So I thought it would be fun to take a break from Fundraising tips and “interrupt your regularly scheduled program” to talk about pasta! Here are some fun foodie facts about the history of pasta and Old World pasta making.

Fun Foodie Facts #1 : The first “industrial” production of pasta occurred in Naples in the early 15th century.

Old World small batch production has survived the test of time and won.

Our pasta is unique from conventionally mass produced pasta. It is prepared in small batches the “old Italian” way. We extrude our pasta using bronze dies and then dry them slowly without added starch. Not familiar with the way pasta is made?
The best way I know to explain the way it is extruded is to take a trip down memory lane. Did you ever play with play dough as a child? My favorite thing was to push the play dough through the plastic extruder (that looked much like a garlic press) and make “hair” for my dough people.

Our pastas don’t just look good. They’re fun to eat too!

Fun Foodie Facts #2: Al dente refers to the desired texture of cooked pasta in Italian cooking. It literally means “to the tooth”. When the pasta is cooked al dente, there should be a slight resistance in the center when the pasta is chewed.

Quality ingredients you can trust.

We use the highest quality ingredients. Only 100% durum wheat and fine semolina flour. High quality natural vegetable powders made from dried tomato, beet, and spinach, are used for our Pasta with Personality® fun shapes, Angel Hair Pasta, and Italian Inspired lines. The exception is our Collegiate Pasta. College fans insisted on their team colors, so we add a little bit of food coloring. Hey, we’re team players. We use a small amount of egg whites (less than 1%) to help the shaped pastas hold their shapes while being cooked.

Fun Foodie Facts #3: Our pasta is made from 100% durum wheat grown and harvested in the Dakotas. Our flour is a finely ground and made from the heart, or endosperm, of durum wheat. Durum wheat is amber-colored high protein hard wheat that is grown specifically for the manufacture of pasta and bread.
Stay tuned for more foodie facts about our Fun Pastas. We can see your mouth-watering from here … . . time to eat!!!!