Pasta Makers Since 1555
Gragnano: the roots of pasta in Italy.
Artisan pasta today and yesterday... not much has changed
Today, modern equipment pushes the pasta mix through a bronze dye and extracts long flat strings of pasta which is then cut and placed to dry for 48 hours at a low temperature in aerated drying chambers. The extruding pasta is cut by one of the Gentile brothers as it extrudes and immediately placed on a stick
Bronze Dye Extraction - movie
Click on the movie link to download a video showing the younger Gentile brother cutting the long fusilli as they get extracted through the bronze dye. He then positions them with rapid hand motion to dry over an ancient stick, just as they used to do centuries ago.
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Hand Made Fusilli - Neapolitan Style
The timeless and widespread art of the hand made Fusilli today lies in the experienced hands of four women that work at the Gentile factory. With one rapid hand movement, they wrap the flat fusilli pasta around a "knitting needle" type of instrument, curling it into a spring and removing the needle rapidly so that the pasta maintains its shape. The result once the pasta dries is an array of differently shaped long Fusilli per pack of pasta that when spilled out on a table is a wonderful sight to behold. And what is more they will keep their original and unique shape when cooked!
Fusilli with Ricotta - Neapolitan Specialty
Ingredients:
1 lb of Hand Made Fusilli Napoletani
1 onion
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
a few leaves of fresh basil
2.2 lbs of Neapolitan Passata Tomatoes
1.8 oz grated parmesan cheese
7 oz of ricotta
Chop the onion and saute in a pan with the olive oil until golden brown. Add the passata tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the basil after turning off the flame. Cook the fusilli in salted water for 33 minutes. Add the ricotta to a bowl and add to this the tomato sauce and blend until creamy. Add the cooked and drained fusilli, mix together, and serve with some leaves of fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese.
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Bucatini Gragnano
Classic Bucatini from Gragnano in the Naples area really a thick spaghetti with a hole running down the length of the strand. Use with any sauce, especially Bucatini alla Amatriciana, a traditional dish from the town of Amatrice near Rome in which the bucatini are served with guanciale pork meat in a hot tomato sauce. Serve with our dehydrated Amatriciana sauce: http://tinyurl.com/nzt8xb |
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Mafalde
Mafalde, with their "frilly edge", are named after Princess Mafalda, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III. This shape is also known as Reginelle which means little queens. Cook them up into a very substantive plate of excellent pasta. Serve with any sauce, especially meat sauces. |
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Tagliatelle Napoletane
We love the way these Tagliatelle look and taste. They cook up into a long strip that's about 3/8 of an inch wide, and like all the other Gentile pasta is very tasty. |
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Orecchiette Napoletane
You may be familiar with the classic Pugliese Orecchiette from Marella. They are hand made in the family kitchens of Puglia by shaping a pasta disc around the tip of the cook's thumb. Orecchiette Napoletane are typical of the Naples area of southern Italy, and are extruded through a bronze dye, producing the wonderful shape you can see above. In Naples they are usually served with a meat ragu and tomato sauce. |
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Tortiglioni
One of our most interesting new arrivals are these tightly coiled fusilli, or Tortiglioni as they are called in Naples. Use with any sauce as you would with regular fusilli, although traditional pastas from Naples like the one pictured above are typically eaten with tomato sauces. Gragnano pasta is firm to the bite, unlike our more tender Marella pasta. |
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Penne Gragnano
Right in the heart of the ancient town of Gragnano in the Naples area, the Gentile factory makes one of the best pastas of the world. Beautiful packaging for a classic Italian pasta that comes from where this kind of pasta was invented. Use it with any sauce, especially tomato sauces. |
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Pennette Rigate
Pennette Rigate, or small penne with ridges to better hold the sauce. A pasta shape for the hungry person who wants to eat a tasty but unpretentious meal. Use with any sauce. |
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Paccheri Gragnano
Also from the small mountain village of Gragnano, these classic "Neapolitan" paccheri are ideal for stuffing and baking. This pasta cooks up "al dente", or firm to the bite. |
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Fusilli a Mano
Hand Made Fusilli are simple straight strips of pasta that are wrapped with rapid hand movement around a "knitting needle" by four women in the . Open the pack and out come beautiful twists of pasta each having a different shape. Since the late 1500s and up to the 1960s, the main street in Gragnano was lined with pasta drying racks containing long strips of these fusilli. Gentile is bringing the hand making tradition back and presenting them to us in this elegant box with a rich cobalt color. Traditionally served with a tomato and ricotta sauce. |
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Other Pasta Cuts
Shown above are other shapes from the Gentile line we presently have in stock. They are all available in clear plastic bags as the other pastas shown above. The rear label has a drawing from the early 1900s depicting the main street in Gragnano and pasta drying racks out on the street. See below to order the shapes individually packaged. |
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Spaghetti Gragnano
Firm to the bite, these spaghetti from the ancient pasta town of Gragnano in the Naples area are probably one of the best spaghetti we've ever tasted. Comes in the Gentile packaging that looks like the Bucatini packaging above. |