Rustichella d'Abruzzo PrimoGrano Spaghettoni

Spaghettoni—as in a thicker, bigger spaghetti. Prepare Rustichella d'Abruzzo PrimoGrano Spaghettoni simply, so you can taste the unique flavor of the Abruzzo-grown wheat. Sometimes this larger spaghetti can be found served with a rich and hearty ragu, but for us these thick strands are best tossed with oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, lots of basil and a healthy pour of the best extra virgin olive oil.

There aren't many folks who can tell us what pasta used to taste like in Italy.  It's not something most grandparents pass along to their grandkids.  If you're family business is pasta though, this is vital information.

Gianluigi Peduzzi's grandfather started the company in 1924 and the pasta they made back then had a lot in common with what you'll find today inside the brown bag of Rustichella d'Abruzzo. But one thing that Gaetano didn't have was modern agriculture.  Crops were inconsistent and yields were low. Protein counts in the wheat were erratic and the finished product was often very different from the season before.  The varieties of wheat he used to make pasta were summer varieties - very different from the hearty, winter-strengthened varieties now ubiquitous in pasta production. But the common thread between the past and present is the production method - the best semolina flour blended with mountain spring water, extruded through bronze dies and allowed to dry at low temperatures for a long time.