Premium pasta vs Regular pasta - which is better?? (Rustichella d'Abruzzo vs San Remo spaghetti)

Rustichella spaghetti vs San Remo spaghetti

There has long been an age-old debate between the varying qualities of pastas on the market, aside from fresh pastas (which we will not be covering today), there are 2 main variations of dried pastas; Those which are extruded using a bronze die and those which go through a teflon coated die. The bronze cut method is the original extrusion method, this technique renders a rough consistency on the surface of the pasta and takes a longer time to process, and this also means it’s more expensive but in theory, should allow sauce to cling on easily. So the debate boils down to food cost, economical VS premium, does it really make a difference in pasta? 

We decided to put two prominent brands of pasta through 3 grueling tests to find out if there’s any real difference. It’s Rustichella d'Abruzzo vs San Remo – Let the battle begin!

The mouth-feel test – Testing texture
In this test we boiled the pastas in salted boiling water according to the directions as started on the packaging. We cooked the Rustichella pasta for 10 minutes and the San Remo pasta for 13 minutes. The objective was to reach the perfect al-dente stage, that’s when the texture is nice and springy on the outside and the center of the pasta is still a tad crisp. Overall both pastas performed well; with Rustichella just edging forward as the consistency from exterior to interior was just perfect!
Verdict – Winner: Rustichella d'Abruzzo

The wall test - Testing tradition
According to old grandmother cookery stories, in order to tell if the pasta is ready for its sauce, you need to throw it against a wall and if it sticks its ready to go. So we decided to throw both pastas against a wall and see if they stick…. Well… we found out that they both stick… so we ended up with 2 packs of pasta on my walls and a horrendous mess to clean up afterwards.
Verdict – Draw!! They both stick!

The sauce test – Consistency and taste
In our last test, we tossed the pastas with a simple beef ragu, plated it up and dug in. I discovered that the Rustichella pasta indeed does have a much better mouth feel that the San Remo pasta. Another point to add is that the Rustichella pasta, although cooked for a shorter time, swelled up more and that enabled some of the sauce to permeate flavours into the pasta. In terms of sauce stickage, it was not immediately noticeable, however over time, and with more and more agitation it was clearly apparent that the ragu enjoyed clinging to the rustichella pasta more.
Verdict – Winner: Rustichella d'Abruzzo

In conclusion, if you have some extra money to spend on groceries I strongly recommend buying premium pasta, although regular pastas come pretty close and do also taste superb (especially with perfect slow-cooked beef ragu), they just lack that extra dimension which can transform your meal from splendid to spectacular.