Making pasta with the organic grain from the estate, we began to discover just how much is possible with a steaming plate of penne. What we like most about this pasta is exactly this, its simplicity, how easy it is to prepare, and the exquisite potential to be found in a food so seemingly modest.
SHAPE AND SUBSTANCE
There is an almost infinite quantity of regional varieties and shapes of pasta in Italy. The most notable difference is certainly the shape, but it is actually the dough that distinguishes it, imparting the delicious characteristics that make it exceptional.
- Stone Ground
Once we have harvested our grain, we take it to the mill where it is ground into flour. It is slowly stone-ground, so that the flour is not heated. This ensures the flour does not lose its nutritional value: all the vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein remain intact, making for a pasta dough that is substantial but easy to digest.
- Bronze Cut
During the bronze-cutting process, the dough is drawn. As the dough passes over the bronze surfaces, it becomes textured, creating that typically porous surface, perfect for a sauce to cling to.
- Slow Drying
Our grandmothers would usually hang pasta out to dry in the sun, like laundry. Today, no differently from then, a good pasta must dry slowly, for at least 24 hours, at no more than 60 degrees, to preserve the characteristics of the grain and enhance the flavour.
You will enjoy all these qualities in Vignamaggio’s pasta: that perceptible texture, a full flavour and easy digestibility.
PASTA WITH WILD ASPARAGUS
With a high-quality pasta, not many ingredients are needed to turn it into something simply sublime!
Fill a pot with water and put it on to boil. Heat a little oil and a shallot in a pan for a few minutes. Cut your wild asparagus and let them cook in the pan while you wait for the water to boil. Add a handful of course salt to the boiling water and add the pasta!
AL DENTE: Boil the penne per 9 minutes and drain.