[Spaghetti al burro, parmigiano e funghi](https://preview.redd.it/wb8qu4bolmxb1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a66a96d850b8a9fbc4056ea0a90aed56345d99c0)
Several months ago I discovered the YouTube channel [Vincenzo’s Plate](https://m.youtube.com/@vincenzosplate) through his reaction video to Carbonara dishes. Down the rabbit hole I went, and I discovered how important the dried pasta is when making every pasta dish.
I started trying different brands of pasta after ditching the cheapest ones I could find. I started with the Aldi bronze cut “Priano”, which was a revelation for me at the time. My first Cacio e Pepe with bronze cut pasta was the best I’ve ever made. That quality of pasta for the price is honestly an amazing deal.
Since Aldi seemed to always run out of stock of the pasta shapes I wanted, I eventually went to another supermarket and tried De Cecco. Again, my pasta dishes tasted even better, and I was really satisfied with the quality.
A couple weeks ago I went to a premium supermarket, and in the pasta aisle, I started comparing the cooking times for each pasta. There was a brand “Felicetti Organic” which had the longest cooking time, but used an opaque bag so I couldn’t see the color. I was intrigued but slightly skeptical, but bought 3 bags to have a try.
THAT THING WAS AMAZING. I could TASTE the wheat in the pasta strands, and the salt in the pasta water seemed to bring out the freshness of the mountain water and a sweet taste. I also found that Felicetti was so much more filling than the other brands.
The color of the pasta was beautiful too, just seeing it on my plate gave me happinness. The simple spaghetti al burro e parmigiano was restaurant quality.
Unfortunately, I ran out of the Felicetti in a week, since I eat pasta almost every day and eat half a bag per meal :(. I realized that it cost 4.3$ per bag, which was out of my budget. Instead, I bought Rummo for this week, and today when I made lemon mint spaghetti it just was not the same. The texture, color, taste was different. After eating half a bag of pasta, I still felt hungry and unfulfilled.
Lord help me if I impulse buy Monograno or Alfeltra online, because my wallet will never be able to recover from this
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* 250g spaghetti
* 100g mushrooms
* 20g butter
* 4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 2-3 stalks of parsley
* as much parmigiano as you want
​
1. Sauté mushrooms in pan with olive oil, mince parsley and put into mushroom pan.
2. Boil 2-3L of salted water, cook pasta to 2-3 min before al dente.
3. Meanwhile, grate parmigiano cheese.
4. Drain pasta, saving a mug of pasta water, and combine pasta in pan with mushrooms and olive oil.
5. Toss together and cook pasta in pan for another 2-3 mins with half mug of pasta water.
6. Turn off heat, and stir in butter to the pasta mix.
7. After 30s off the heat, slowly add parmigiano and pasta water as needed to maintain creamy texture.
8. Toss pasta in the pan to ensure creaminess.
9. Serve with more grated parmigiano!
by RadianMay
4 Comments
Yes Felicetti is really good pasta, made in the Dolomites part of the Alps (they don’t grow wheat there).
Great Italian recipes are impressive because they have 5-10 ingredients and you can taste them all. If you have good quality ingredients, the result is better.
You are on the right track. Get a couple of books like Silver Spoon (Cucchiaio d’Argento) and La Cucina regionale italiana (in English, published by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina) and master the traditional recipes.
Edit – Eataly carries Felicetti.
You’re doing good! I’d just add a smashed (with the flat of the knife) unpeeled garlic clove in the oil while it’s warming up and leave it in (just barely sizzling) for a few minutes – then remove it and proceed; I’d also reserve some fresh parsley to add while tossing the pasta (I always worry cooking parsley too much makes it bitter). Agree on Felicetti, with Afeltra and Rigorosa close seconds. Rummo is excellent, for a supermarket brand.
My favourite pasta is from fattoria la vialla and I need to order it online.
The taste, texture, and bite are top notch.
I usually only have it for a treat. Tonight, I had Aglio, olio e peperoncino with the dried chillies I bought home from sicily.
If there is one thing I have learned over the years about Italian food, few ingredients, high quality is the way to do it.
If you’re in the US avoid Rummo, it’s not the same pasta that they sell in Italy. It’s “enriched” in the US which is crap.