La Pasta di Aldo

La Pasta di Aldo was founded in 2001 by Luigi Donnari and Maria Alzapiedi in Monte San Giusto, a medieval town in the hills of the Marche. The name joins the first two letters of their surnames: Al from Alzapiedi, Do from Donnari.

The recipe has just two ingredients: durum wheat semolina and fresh eggs, at 32%, with no water at all. The dough is rolled, cut and hung to dry slowly, the way the women of the Marche have always made it at home. That is what gives the pasta its deep yellow color, its rough surface and its remarkable bite.

Its fame has traveled far beyond the region: Heston Blumenthal called it perhaps the finest pasta in Italy, Gambero Rosso ranked it first, and Michelin-starred kitchens serve it. It cooks in a few minutes and holds any sauce.