I'm Italian - there is only one dried supermarket pasta I buy and you can find it at Woolworths
When asked by a Sydneysider what brand Italians recommend at Woolworths, Coles or Aldi for those unable to make pasta at home, there was one that stood out from the pack.
The 'golden' buy? La Molisana.
Hundreds flooded a popular foodie forum to praise the brand and its 'authenticity' this week. It is sold at Woolworths, Harris Farm Markets, the odd deli and smaller Euro grocery stores.
'An Italian in Venice told me the secret. Buy the pasta with higher protein content. So, La Molisana with 14g protein/100g is the one and it's excellent,' one wrote.
'I'm second generation Australian-Italian if that still counts. La Molisana for dried pasta and Rana for fresh pasta,' another echoed.
'Can confirm - my Italian mother would only buy this when we were in Australia,' one more said.
Others said the brand was 'easily the best', 'the most authentic' and led to the 'best starchy water' - especially the egg fettuccine.
'La Molisana egg fettuccine is hands down the nicest pasta I've had since I had it from scratch when I was a kid. Aussie born with Italian Dad here,' a local wrote.
'Australian-Italian, if we aren't making it, it's usually La Molisana. Go for something with high protein and a light yellow colour. The darker types haven't been air dried [for several] days.'
La Molisana, owned by the Ferro family, has been in business for more than 100 years and boasts a pasta factory that is 'one of the highest in Italy' at 730m in the heart of Molise (Southern Italy).
This, they claim, offers 'pristine pasta-making conditions with clean mountain air, fresh spring water and superior grain growing'.
'The techniques used by the Ferro family combine ancient practices with modern technology, maintaining the grain's original properties to create the perfect pasta,' they say.
The company is the fifth largest pasta maker in Italy and they export to more than 80 countries. They also use high quality semolina flour - a must in most Italian cooking.
At Woolworths, shoppers can shop a fairly wide range of options including spaghetti, linguine, penne, rigatoni, farfalle, fettuccine, pappardelle, fusilli, gnocchi and lasagne.
There are also pesto and passata sauces.
While La Molisana was the brand mentioned most, it wasn't the only supermarket offering recommended by Italians.
At Coles, Cucina Matese was a go-to for many who described it as having a 'decent texture' and 'authentic'.
Meanwhile at Aldi, shoppers recommended Armando pasta but said while it may be 'pretty decent', they only have rigatoni, fusilli and linguine available.
Others recommended visiting a local delicatessen, as many provide imported and freshly made pasta that's 'miles better' than many of the supermarket options.
A few more brands listed included Barilla, Remano, Woolies' Macro, Divella and Guzzi's.
One more Australian-Italian summed up his go-to picks succinctly, with hundreds agreeing with his recap.
'Barilla if you need to buy cheap [and] en masse, La Molisana for the closest thing to real (dry) pasta and Rana for tortellini or ravioli,' he said.
Bellissimo!
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