It’s not an admission from Campania Wines (but pretty close), but one from Sophia Loren the great Italian film actress, who was born into poverty and the main meal of the day for her as a child was pasta made with simple ingredients.

We at Campania Wines are proud to announce a new range of pasta from Pastificio Sorrentino available for your delectation.

The Pastificio Sorrentino factory is located in Gragnano in the enchanting location of the Valle dei Mulini. They use quality raw materials and centuries of tradition to produce the best durum wheat semolina made for exceptional pasta.

The pasta shapes are produced from the bronze dies and slow drying at low temperatures giving the pasta roughness and the characteristic amber yellow colour.

But why use a bronze die? The die is a plate with holes of different shapes and sizes. As the dough passes through the die, it gives the pasta shape a rough surface, known as ‘arraggiatura’, or ‘irritation’ and refers to the slight roughness that characterises Gragnano pasta and allows it to mix better with the sauce.

As well as including the usual favourite shapes such as spaghetti, linguine and penne, we’ve also introduced the shapes that many Italian families use when cooking their favourite pasta dish:

Paccheri meaning gentle slaps in Neapolitan dialect probably got its name from when the sauce landed onto the pasta and making a slapping sound. This is an iconic Neapolitan pasta shape with ancient origins amongst the poor. It was thought that paccheri were the ideal shape because the pieces were large, and it was felt that appetites could be filled with only a few pieces. Paccheri hollow tube-shaped pasta can be baked, stuffed with sausage and garlic, or used in a seafood mix.

Festoni is a large pasta shape with ruffled edges. Festoni means festoon as in a string or garland of flowers. Ideal for layering they make for a great pasta bake.

Mafalde, at the turn of the 20th Century a princess, the second daughter of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy called Mafalda was born and this pasta was named in her honour. Mafalde or reginette (little queens) are long wide pasta, similar to pappardelle but with scalloped edges. Perfect with a light meat ragu’.

Conchiglioni as the name suggests, is pasta shaped like a conch shell. Conchiglioni are great to use baked or stuffed and can hold many fillings. They are also a popular shape in pasta salads too.

No matter which shapes you prefer when eating pasta, now is a great opportunity to try a shape you’ve not encountered before, and with our easy-to-follow recipes on the Campania Wines website, you’ll see that there is more to pasta than spaghetti or linguine.

‘I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.’ Sophia Loren

https://campaniawines.co.uk/product-category/food/pasta/