Dried Pasta?

Question

Not as good as fresh, for sure, but does anyone have particular favorites in the average grocery store selections??
 
Also, I see the 'fancy pants' brands.....Coppola, etc that seem WAY over priced for dried pasta...are they worth it???
Thanks for all your feedback

Answer

Really good dried pastas are vastly superior to most of the limp fresh stuff that's around. Long essays have been written on the subject

Answer

I usually prefer dried pasta (impossible to get fresh al dente), except for lasagne. I was pleasantly surprised to read that Alain Ducasse also prefers dried. I was blown away by his article describing his cooking pasta like one cooks risotto, stirring in sauce and liquid a little at a time until the pasta is cooked. Doing that never occurred to me. What a great idea, I love learning new food tips like that.
 
Anyway, I like Dececco, but it is too expensive for the amount of cooking I do, and since I prefer Barilla to Ronzoni, I usually like Barilla. Costco was recently carrying a new line from Muellers that I got and seem to like quite a bit, but due to lack of sampling numbers, the verdict is still out.
jake

Link: http://www.nycooks.com

Answer

Chalk up another vote for DeCecco over Barilla. Both in texture and taste. Also like Don Peppe which I get at a local Italian food shop.

Answer

DeCecco is the only grocery-store brand I use. It's simply great pasta for the money. Barilla, in the U.S., is now manufactured exclusively in the U.S. (at least, this is what I've been told by someone who distributes it -- I haven't checked out the boxes personally). This may explain why it is fairly crummy, because it used to be pretty good a few years ago.
 
I play around with some fancier ones now and then. I threw some Coppola pasta (papardelle, I think) into a lamb stew a while back, and it was a great addition. It did not become mushy but remained toothsome even as a leftover after sitting in the fridge for a few days.

Answer

For what it's worth, I found this in a old Cook's Illustrated taste test from last year.
 
From best to worst:
 
Ronzoni
De Cecco
Mueller's
Barilla
Rienzi
365 Brand
Martelli
De Verde

Answer

My favorite dried pasta is Setaro. It is sold at Buon Italia at Chelsea Market. 
 
Just substantially better than any other dried pasta I've tried, and it comes in lots of shapes. Mmmmmm.

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Dried Pasta?

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