Pasta

CiaoOrganics pasta is uniquely produced from carefully selected, organically produced grains of durum wheat semolina. Once the dough has been prepared, according to an antique recipe, it is extruded using bronze plates, and dried at low temperatures (max 45°C / 113°F) for 24 hours). Unlike conventional products which are produced with plastic or teflon plates that leave the pasta smooth, this process leaves the pasta with a rigid surface, typical of the finest pastas. The unsmooth surface permits the sauce to adhere to the pasta.

The suggested cooking times give the pasta the right consistency and firmness, al dente, without overcooking.
The CiaoOrganics line of pastas includes the following:

Pasta in its innumerable forms and uses is inextricably woven into the fabric of Italian life. Its true origins are a subject of debate. It is known that around the year 1299 Marco Polo (a Venetian explorer) brought it back to Italy from his travels to China. Others insist that pasta was introduced to Sicily by the Arabs at the beginning of the second millennium. Yet other experts point out that the ancient Etruscans made some form of pasta one thousand years earlier. Whatever its origins, it plays a vital part in the Italian diet. Past made from hard durum wheat is typically of the Southern Italian tradition.

Organically grown wheat does not employ the use of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or toxic substances. Rather, organically grown wheat is stored in refrigerate silos, allowing for chemical treatment to be eliminated. In addition, organically grown wheat is often ground using natural stones which are must less destructive than the industrial mill grinding used in conventional products, The traditional stone ground method helps to maintain the natural properties of the grain itself. Finally, once the pasta dough has been made and shaped, it must be dried. Conventional methods often use very high temperatures to transform the dough into pasta, whereas organic norms require that the drying temperature not exceed 65° C / 149° F, thus preserving the wheat’s nutritional properties.