What You're Really Paying For With More Expensive Dried Pasta

Cooks who don't know what they're talking about might tell you that when it comes to pasta, the only way to go is fresh. That dried pasta is lazy, or inauthentic. But the fact of the matter is: this isn't true. Sometimes, dried pasta is the best choice. For an authentic Roman-style carbonara, for example, there's no substitute. A good dried pasta will bring with it a totally distinct mouthfeel, robust flavor and an al dente bite that will take dishes from just fine to divine. People tend to lump dried pastas together — but in fact there's a huge variety and choosing the right one is an art in itself.

The simple reality is that the more you pay for dried pasta, the better it will be. That almost feels like a moot point, but, much like wine, even a small jump in price can mean a huge difference in quality. Paying just a couple bucks more for that pasta in the paper bag with squiggly writing on it (you know the one) really is worth it. The flavor of the pasta itself is richer, more pronounced, thanks to the higher quality ingredients involved. The texture is improved, too. Because of how it's made, higher quality dried pasta is more forgiving, staying al dente for longer, and resisting clumping together while it cooks. It'll immediately upgrade your dish, for really not that much more. You wouldn't scrimp on your sauce — so why do the same for your pasta?

Speaking of sauce, it's worth mentioning that upgrading your pasta won't just improve the noodles themselves: It'll actually make your pasta sauces better, too. When you handle high quality dried pasta, you might notice a fine dusty powder on your fingertips — this is starch, which is the key to a truly brilliant pasta sauce. Because high quality dried pasta takes longer to cook than its cheaper counterpart (often due to the fact that it's dried for a longer period) there's more time for that pasta to release starch into the water as it bubbles away. Starchier water means a thicker, richer, sauce with a finer mouthfeel. As we all should know by now: pasta water is liquid gold.

You might have also noticed that more expensive dried pasta has a much rougher texture than the cheaper options. That bumpy exterior isn't just aesthetic. It actually serves a crucial purpose: the roughness is retained throughout the cooking process, and means that when you eventually sauce your pasta, it'll cling much more effectively to whatever you mix it with than the super smooth surface of lesser pastas. This is the same regardless of shape — think of the roughness as thousands of tiny little ridges that'll catch the sauce, making sure you get the most flavorful bite, every single time. It also means that the pasta itself has a more substantial texture, combining with that al dente perfection for an altogether superior pasta experience.

There are a few reasons why more expensive pasta comes out so much better. The first is simple: quality ingredients. If you're on the hunt in the store, look for pasta that's made of durum wheat. "Durum" signifies that the wheat is coarse ground, and significantly more hardy than other, less expensive, less labor intensive wheat varieties. This will result in that perfect al dente texture that you want when cooking dried pasta, as well as a more robust flavor profile that'll add depth and richness to your pasta dishes.

Dried pasta's superiority is also to do with how it's shaped. Companies that mass produce cheaper pastas use dies (don't get confused, it's nothing to do with color: A die is the fixture attached to an extruder to actually shape the pasta) made of teflon, which while durable and cheap, produces an ultra smooth texture. Makers of higher quality pastas will use dies made of bronze. These are more expensive than teflon dies, but will produce pasta with that characteristically rough, superior texture. 

The drying process itself also makes a significant difference. Most cheap dried pasta is dried rapidly (in as little as three or four hours) and at high temperatures. Higher quality pasta, however, is dried slower, over a period of several days — and this gentle handling allows for it to retain a lot of the higher quality wheat's natural characteristics and flavors, making for a better bite.