Trofie Pasta - Rustichella d'Abruzzo

Rustichella d'Abruzzo Italian Trofie Shaped Pasta

8 Oz. Naples, Italy

We're especially fond of these short, twisty trofie. Ideally shaped for holding sauce, the trofie are a classic pasta shape from the Ligurian region, along Italy's northwest coastline. There, in the city of Genoa and throughout the region, they're most often served with pungent Genovese basil pesto.

Made from just two ingredients -- hard durum wheat flour and water -- the dough is hand rolled into 2 1/2-inch long pieces that are thick in the middle and thin on the ends. They plump when cooked to almost three times their size, so this packet will easily feed 3 to 4 hungry people.

Serving Ideas

For an authentic meal, toss trofie and your favorite pesto with small cubes of peeled, boiled potato and tender, young green beans. The pasta should be cooked al dente for optimal texture. Fresh and filled with the fragrance of basil, this dish is best made with a lighter flavored olive oil, ideally one from Liguria!

About the Producer: Sapori di Napoli

In Italy's Campania region, pasta is considered art, ritual, culture, and history - especially in Naples and the towns and villages that surround it. The craftsmen at the Pastificio Artigianale Romita - located in the village of Borgo Reale di S. Leucio about 15 miles due north of Naples - produce their pasta Sapori di Napoli with the love and devotion of connoisseurs.

The skill and experience of the Master Pasta Makers are paramount; they employ traditional production methods now abandoned by industrial pasta makers. Starting with just the purest water and semolina from hand-selected durum wheat - whose low ash and high gluten content create superior texture and flavor - they work the dough by hand before extruding it through bronze dies in the traditional manner. The pasta is then dried slowly under controlled low-temperature conditions from 24 to 92 hours depending on the shape. This slow drying leads to uniform absorption of water during cooking and a perfect "al dente" on your plate.

THE RUSTICHELLA D'ABRUZZO ITALIAN TROFIE-SHAPED PASTA IS PACKAGED IN A FACILITY THAT ALSO HANDLES WHEAT FLOUR, SOY FLOUR, TREE NUTS, PEANUTS, CHOCOLATE (MILK), AND OTHER ALLERGENS