The Pasta Queen's Pro-Tip For Choosing The Best Store-Bought Pasta

After amassing millions of followers across TikTok and Instagram, Nadia Caterina Munno, better known as The Pasta Queen, has landed a self-titled culinary travel series with Reese Witherspoon's woman-powered Hello Sunshine production company. All 13 episodes of "The Pasta Queen," which follows the charismatic chef as she travels throughout Italy and prepares authentic dishes with the treasures she collects along the way, are available to stream on Prime Video starting October 24, 2024. In addition to preparing universally enjoyed Italian recipes and exploring her heritage, the Roman-born social media star and chef offers viewers practical advice to implement into their own cooking adventures. No common pasta mistakes are to be made under The Pasta Queen's watch.

In episode 13 of "The Pasta Queen," Munno takes a break from truffle hunting and prosciutto processing to answer pressing questions from fans, including how to choose the best store-bought pasta. She encourages home chefs to look for two labels that indicate high-quality pasta: bronze-die and slow-dried.

A die is a metal mold through which pasta dough is extruded to create specific shapes such as spaghetti, penne, or fusilli. Bronze-die molds are, you guessed it, made of bronze metal, and leave the pasta with coarsely-cut edges that capture and hold heavy, flavor-forward sauces more effectively. However, the extrusion method is just one specification of high-quality store-bought pasta. Munno says artisanal pasta should be slow-dried at low temperatures to prevent the burning of its nutritional enzymes, preserve its wheat content, and conserve its subtle flavors.

While sourcing freshly-made pasta from Italy isn't exactly convenient for many home chefs, knowing what to look for in supermarket pasta brands can help you achieve a Pasta Queen-approved dish. To save yourself the trouble of analyzing every package of pasta you see on the shelves of your local grocery store, consider purchasing some popular brands that are known for their slow-dried, bronze die-cut pasta.

De Cecco is an affordable brand that manufactures many different pasta shapes, all of which are bronze-die-cut and slow-dried for up to 40 hours. DeLallo pasta is a family-owned brand whose products are also cut with a bronze die and slow-dried at low temperatures. Rao's, which is known for its pasta sauce, also manufactures slow-dried and bronze-die-cut pasta. Another popular brand that adheres to Nadia Caterina Munno's criteria is Rummo, which patented its slow pasta-making process. Although high-quality pasta may cost a bit more than those that have been flash-dried and cut without a bronze die, they will give your dishes a more artisanal Italian taste.

From spaghetti cooking tips to empowering kitchen quips, "The Pasta Queen" is a series teeming with heartfelt advice from the monarch of macaroni. The next time you're shopping for pasta, keep Munno's label tips in mind to achieve the freshest flavor in your dish.