Pasta

How Pasta Journeys from Production to Your Dinner Plate

Any well-crafted dish starts with the ingredients, and pasta is no exception. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of indulging in a pasta dish, you can appreciate the wonders of the individual ingredients that make the dish possible. From the wheat and durum flour used in its making, to the eggs and water that bind the dough, each component of a pasta dish is intricately woven into the tapestry of flavor. In this article, we take a look at how pasta is made and travels to your dinner plate.

The Raw Materials: From Harvest to Milling

Back before the ingredients of your favorite Italian dish were ready to be cooked, they underwent quite an adventure. Let’s start with the milled wheat to make the dough. The wheat used to produce pasta is most commonly durum wheat, which is known for its high content of gluten and protein. The durum wheat is harvested and then sent to a mill to be processed into semolina grains, an intermediary stage between grain and flour. These semolina grains are then ground down into a flour that is refined and free of impurities. Because durum wheat offers such a high amount of proteins and gluten, it is especially well-suited for pasta production.

Making the Dough: A Blending of Ingredients

Once the refined flour has been obtained, the process of pasta production begins. This magical part of the process is where the dough is made! Water and eggs from chickens (which are fed the same durum wheat) are combined in varying proportions with the refined wheat flour. This mixture is kneaded and pressed through heavy steel molds, which produce the desired shape of the pasta.

The Cutting: From Dough to Noodles

Once the dough has been placed in molds, the pasta is then cut into the desired shape. Usually, very sharp knives are used to cut the dough, and depending on the type of pasta being created, it is then spread out large hooks or pressed into dies to further shape it. Special machines, called extruders, are also sometimes used to press the dough through dies and cut it into noodles.

The Final Touches

Once the pasta has been cut into the desired shape, the different types of pasta require different treatments. Lasagna noodles, for example, need to be rolled. For this process, the noodles must be fed through press rollers and cut into more individualized rectangular noodles. Once the lasagna is cut, it must be dried which hardens and stabilizes it for cooking. On the other hand, for spaghetti, the noodles must be boiled in water for a short time. This process hardens and shapes the noodles into their distinguished classic form.

Transporting the Pasta

Once the pasta has gone through the various cutting, shaping, and drying processes, it needs to be packaged, transported and stored before it can reach your dinner plate. Packaging varies based on the type of pasta, with dry pasta often being stored in sealed and airtight bags. Wet pasta must also be packaged in plastic containers and sealed tight to keep it fresh.

Once the pasta has been appropriately packaged, it can then be transported, usually by truck, to grocery stores and restaurants. Dry pasta can typically be stored for up to 18 months and wet pasta for up to a month, so having a fast and reliable means of transport is important.

The Journey Ends on Your Plate

We have now successfully followed the pasta from the wheat and durum flour used in production, to the eggs and water that bind the dough, to the packaging, transport, and storage before it is ready to go. Once the pasta reaches its destination, all that is left to do is to cook and enjoy the fruits of its labor.

Rigatoni, penne, spaghetti, lasagna — all of these products were, at one time, nothing more than flour, eggs, and water before going through the complex process of pasta production. This final journey ends on your plate, as your favorite Italian dish comes to life before your eyes.