Trying all normal priced pasta in my local italian supermarket – part 2

I was pretty overwhelmed by the amount of likes and comments, so naturally I had to continue! You wanted part 2, you got part 2! 

After learning so much in part 1, I decided that De Cecco and La Molisana deserved to serve as a good calibrator for the next lot. This time we further semi-blinded it. Of course I knew what I bought. But I measured the pasta ahead of time, put the cooking time on the front and only a hidden sticker on the backside for the reveal after tasting all 8 pasta brands.

Same as the last time: I made a very simple Sugo of passata, garlic, onions and some vegetable broth. All pasta was cooked to al dente according to the packaging and finished with some pasta water and a ladle of sauce. Same size of pan, amount of fresh water and salt. Same weight of pasta cooked each time.

The rating out of 10 from the last time was slightly adjusted after going through the packs of pasta. There were some Barilla defenders claiming that i did not cook them right, and they had a point: The lower rated pasta was more enjoyable cooked over the al dente time, that still does not make them good pasta, just more manageable…

So for the second round:

(Semiblind and with random order by picking the prepared paper bags)

1. De Cecco: You notice the excellent bite and nice texture with the al dente pasta. It has a nice wheaty taste that compliments the sauce. 8/10
2. Barilla al Bronzo: For being cooked exactly to the instructions this pasta is very soft. You really have to try to find any flavour but nothing throws you off either. Texture is not as good as the first one. 6/10
3. Rustichella d'Abruzzo: A firm and excellent bite. The texture is really good. This is the first pasta where I get a fresh grainy taste of wheat. The sauce sticks like a dream. 9/10
4. Filotea: Very firm bite, a good flavour of the pasta itself. But after the pasta I had before, the texture is just good. After revealing the brand: It is not worth the extra money. 8/10
5. Rummo: Good bite and the texture is okay. A slight taste of old wheat on the pasta that drowns out with the tomato sauce. Overall just slightly less than what i hoped for. 7/10
6. La Molisana: A good bite and a great texture. The robust texture makes the pasta cling and brings a little wheat taste to the dish. 8/10
7. Del Verde: The texture is somehow slimy?! For al-dente it is a weak bite too. There is this cardboard taste that the Etna of round 1 brought to the table. Not off putting, but certainly not pleasant. 3/10
8. Voiello: The texture is okay, but like the one before, really soft for what is supposedly the al-dente cooking time. Unfortunately the taste of this is abhorrent. This is now really old cardboard and then comes an almost bitter aftertaste that you really wished the sauce to overshadow. Finding out this is Barilla’s noble-brand after the tasting was shocking, its way worse than Barilla! 2/10

So, after hunting for some your recommendations we have the new leaderboard:

Here are the results for round 1 again, which include comments on living through the package of pasta:

1. Etna: very inconsistent lengths in the pasta, had the most swelling of all the pasta. A weird taste of musty old wheat. The bite was firm but not in a good way, and seemed inconsistent with the texture. 3/10
2. Molisana Collezione da Chef: Way better mouth feel than the Etna. Very standard taste of wheat pasta with a firm and nice bite. Pretty middle of the road with not too much of unique flavours, but that also means no bad ones… 6/10
3. Barilla: Weirdly the bite is nice, but the pasta crumbles while chewing. This pasta has a sub-par coating with the sauce, even though it had its cook time, the core of the pasta is not cooked through. No real taste of the pasta is noticeable. It gets better when cooked longer, but you end up with soggy pasta… 5/10
4. Molisana: A nice bite to it. It cooked very well and the sauce clings to the pasta for dear life. A little wheat taste but not too noticeable. This is probably as close as how I would imagine a stereotypical pasta should taste in a normal dish. 8/10
5. Divella: Again, like with the Etna it is really noticeable that the pasta is inconsistent in length, the cutting tool created really rough edges. The bite is okay, but there is a little aftertaste that reminds me of cardboard. The sauce does not stick to the pasta well. The Pasta handles being cooked longer well and the pasta works in soups as good as the others. 4/10
6. De Cecco: The first thing you note, is the excellent bite, just on the point of an al dente pasta. The flavour is noticeable, but in a good way. It compliments the sauce nicely and does an all around excellent job. 9/10
7. Molisana Pastificio: Again a very good bite, even though it is not as good as the De Cecco. This pasta again is holding back on flavour, eating it for the comparison is probably the only reason i noticed it at all. But it is nice! Good integration of sauce to the shape of the penne. In some sauces the pasta seems a little out of place, not as versatile as the standard La Molisana 7/10

So happy to have done this further. With Voiello I had my first really hard disappointment. But I will live through the pasta packs and see if maybe there is some mercy to be found here. And fear not. I am already hunting for round 3!