PrimoGrano Pasta

Very few pasta producers can guarantee the quality of a product as Rustichella d'Abruzzo can for their PrimoGrano selection. PrimoGrano (meaning "first grain" in Italian) was the idea of owner and master pasta maker Gianluigi Peduzzi. Gianluigi wanted to bring back the taste and authenticity of pasta made with 100% Abruzzo-grown wheat like the pasta his grandfather, Gaetano Sergiacomo, used to make at his mill in the town of Penne, at the turn of last century.

Gianluigi sponsored a lengthy research study by the Consiglio Per La Ricerca In Agricoltura E L'Analisi Dell'Economia Agraria (CREA) (Institute for Experimental Grain Research). The result? Three varieties of heirloom wheat were selected, each tracing back to original clones planted in the Vestini hills of Abruzzo: San Carlo, Varano, and Mongibello.

Every year in November, Gianluigi Peduzzi and a small group of farmer friends from the surrounding hills of Pianella plant a total of 148 acres with the selected heritage varieties. The harvest takes place in July and the wheat is kept protected in the hull, then milled to order and made into PrimoGrano Pasta in small batches throughout the year.

This soft, fragrant wheat is used to make several of the same traditional Abruzzese shapes crafted by Gaetano Sergiacomo 100 years ago: long shapes such as Spaghettoni and short shapes such as Penne Rustiche.

Rustichella d'Abruzzo PrimoGrano is a pasta made for the true pasta lover. Fragrant as freshly baked bread, with a supple and soft texture, this pasta is best enjoyed with just extra virgin olive oil or a light sauce, so that one can enjoy the pasta’s unique flavors. The PrimoGrano line's green paper bags are decorated with white sprigs of wheat in celebration of the 100% Abruzzo heritage grains.