Pasta Gentile – Riso di Semola

Pastificio Gentile, founded in 1876, is one of the historic artisan factories that have made the town of Gragnano famous around the world for its pasta. Still today it uses the ancient artisan production methods, paying great attention to every single detail, from the selection of raw materials to the control of the different production phases. The company offers the highest quality products with full respect of the details that in the past have made the pasta from Gragnano so famous: the use of fine semolina strictly of Italian origin, and the low-temperature drying according to the old method “Cirillo”. The method "Cirillo" is a drying process based on the possibility of recreating the same phenomenon of natural drying inside the pasta factories, which exploited the heat of the sun and the force of the wind. The high-temperature drying usually takes place at 120°C for 6 hours and the low-temperature drying at 55°C to 58°C for 16 to 18 hours, but in the Cirillo method, drying is done at very near room temperature for 48 to 72 hours. This allows the pasta to dry slowly and the moisture content rate becomes uniform between the surface and the center. That's the reason why Pastificio Gentile is able to produce very thick pasta such as spaghettoni and paccheri. Because of the time required for drying, production is extremely small, and much of it is sold to high-end restaurants in Italy and abroad. Best cooked to a perfectly ‘al dente’ texture, this high quality artisanal pasta is best paired with our cheeses, pancetta and speck.