Buy Seggiano from The Cheese and Wine Shop ...
Certified organic grain must be cultivated without harmful sprays and chemical fertilizers and needs to be stored refrigerated, to avoid the insecticide treatments which are necessary for grains stored at ambient temperature.
Conventionally farmed grains carry none of these guarantees, so we feel that the organic certification of the Val d’Orcia wheat used to make Seggiano pasta is important.
SLOW DRIED
Pasta which is industrially dried at high temperatures loses proteins and gluten, known as the parte nobile of the wheat. The Seggiano pasta is slow dried for 26 hours at a temperature below 45º which preserves the original proteins and gluten content of the wheat, giving the pasta its excellent consistency and flavour.
Try cooking our pasta for two or three times longer than the suggested cooking time and you will see that it doesn’t turn mushy – it remains al dente.
BRONZE FORMED
Traditional pasta, formed in a bronze mould, has a matt appearance and a rough, porous texture which binds perfectly with sugos and sauces. Industrial pasta is Teflon drawn.
SEGGIANO VERSUS INDUSTRIAL PASTA
Industrial pasta may be made using lower quality, insecticide-treated wheat. It is Teflon drawn, which leaves the pasta with a smooth, shiny surface, that resists bonding with sauces. The penne rigate, or ridged pasta shape, was invented for this reason.
In order to increase production volume, industrial pasta producers dry their pasta fast at high temperature. The wheat proteins and gluten are lost at these temperatures and the pasta loses its flavour and consistency.
Buy Seggino Pasta at The Cheese and Wine Shop...
COOKING TIPS FOR SEGGIANO PASTA...
Our Italian friends advise abundant salted water for cooking dried pasta.
100g of pasta will give an average portion, but calculate 125g of dried pasta per person for a main course serving. Bring the water to the boil, add the pasta and stir, so that it doesn’t stick . Start timing.
Put your serving bowl in the sink with the colander over it, to drain the boiling water off into. This will warm the bowl ready for serving. Drain the pasta and serve with your favourite sauce.
