Best dried spaghetti taste test

What is spaghetti?

Spaghetti pasta dough is made from milled wheat flour, often durum wheat semolina, pushed through a mould or die into long strings, and then dried. You may see ‘bronze die’ on some pastas – this means that the mould is made from bronze, as opposed to a synthetic material, which gives the pasta a rougher surface which helps sauces cling more easily to the outside.

How we tested

We tested eight varieties of dried spaghetti. We cooked 50g of each in two litres of boiling water with ½ tsp of fine sea salt following pack instructions for al dente. We ate a little of the plain pasta, then tossed each with 2 heaped spoonfuls of a simple tomato sauce and 1 spoonful of pasta cooking water, to see how the sauce clung to the pasta and affected the flavour and texture.

The results for the best dried spaghetti taste test

Winner: Rummo Spaghetti No 3, £2.20/500g

Score: 8/10

Bronze cut with a deep golden wheat colour. Eaten alone it has a light wheat flavour and is a great sauce clinger. This spaghetti has a pleasing artisan roughness in the mouthfeel. The perfect pasta for a light tomato sauce – each complements the other.

Biona Organic Italian Spaghetti, £2.69/500g

Looks very pale in the pack but is less so once cooked. This pasta is bronze cut and, even pre-cooked, you can see how rough the surface of the pasta is. Little discernible flavour when eaten alone but is an excellent sauce clinger once tossed through.

Score: 7/10

Sanmartí Spaghetti £3/250g

Score: 7/10

This spaghetti is noticeably thinner than other brands. You can see little flecks of wheat in the pasta and, once cooked, it has a very good wheaty flavour. It lacks some clinginess, so this would be best used in a chicken noodle soup or with a delicate crab, lemon and chilli sauce.

Garofalo Spaghetti Alla Chitarra, £2.49/500g

Score: 7/10

Nice thick, golden coloured strands. Has a light roughness to the outside, too. A more prononounced wheat flavour than most but not overly distinct. A good clinger and a nice chewy texture.

De Cecco Spaghetti No 12, £1/500g

Score 6/10

A good classic yellow colour once cooked but the pasta lacks flavour. The sauce clings quite well, although the spaghetti is smooth, so much of it slips off while eaten.

Napolina Spaghetti No 6, £1.30/500g

Score 6/10

Very smooth feel but a nice thickness. A very light wheat flavour but overall a little plain tasting. The sauce clings fairly well, and it has a pleasing texture but is let down by a lack of flavour.

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