When Shopping For Pasta, Look For:

Appearance
Amber color—a sign of good-quality wheat—versus whitish, reddish or grayish hues. Pasta that adheres to high-quality standards should also have fewer specks (blackish marks) or impurities.

Bite
Good pasta should be cooked al dente every time for the best meal experience.

Clarity
Pasta made with the highest-quality durum wheat should not release a lot of starch in the cooking water. Look to make sure the cooking water is clear versus cloudy—an indicator that excess starch is being released, which usually results in sticky, clumpy pasta.

Doesn’t Break
Pasta made with the highest-quality durum wheat should not break, clump or stick when cooking. Serve immediately to ensure the best meal experience.

Why do Italians like their pasta al dente? In Italy, food is an emotional experience that engages all the senses. Every meal is a celebration, and pasta is an important part of the meal. Cooking pasta al dente, which means “to the tooth” in Italian, means the pasta will still be firm when you bite into it. This is preferred because the firm bite of the pasta allows you to taste the pasta better.

How to Cook Pasta

Tip: Chef Lorenzo adds salt to the water until “it tastes like the sea.”

Note: Traditional pasta cooked al dente has a low to medium glycemic index (gi) value, which means the body digests it more slowly than many other carbohydrate-rich foods and keeps you fuller longer.