Filotea, pasta manufacturer from Ancona in the Marche region
Filotea is an Italian pasta manufacturer from Ancona in the Marche region, founded in 2005. Bronze-drawn egg and durum wheat pasta in 19 shapes, plus 5 ready-made sauces and pestos, supplying over 50 countries worldwide.
When you hear Filotea, you think of Italian pasta from the Marche region, on the Adriatic coast between Bologna and the Abruzzo. The manufacturer is based in Ancona, has been producing since 2005, and has developed over two decades from a regional business into a supplier for over 50 countries. The range at "nur Gutes" includes 19 pasta shapes, from delicate egg noodles to robust durum wheat tubes, plus 5 ready-made sauces and pestos, totaling 24 products.
From Ancona to the world
Ancona is located on the Adriatic coast of the Marche, a region known for its grain tradition but rarely as much in the spotlight as Tuscany or Emilia-Romagna. It was here that Filotea founded its manufactory in 2005 with the goal of making pasta as it was traditionally created in the region: from a few, good ingredients, without additives.
From this single location, Filotea now supplies more than 50 countries, from German delicatessen shops to specialized importers overseas. As Francesco Severoni likes to emphasize, this consistency is the core of their success: one location, one recipe, consistently refined over two decades, rather than constantly changing locations or processes.
The Marche region itself lies a good 200 kilometers north of the Abruzzo and just as far south of Bologna, geographically almost in the center of Italy, but culinarily with a very distinct signature. Wheat cultivation has a long tradition here, even if the region stands in the shadow of its better-known neighbors in terms of tourism. When you buy Italian pasta, you usually end up with brands from Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, or Apulia, rarely with a manufacturer from the Marche, even though one of the country's most consistent artisan traditions is located here.
Bronze-drawn and gently dried
Two processes run through almost the entire range: bronze-drawing and slow drying at low temperatures. In bronze-drawing, the dough is pressed through a bronze die instead of Teflon, which gives the pasta a rough, porous surface to which sauces adhere significantly better than to smoothly pressed industrial goods. Robust, grippy, al dente – these three characteristics result from this one step and distinguish Filotea pasta from smoothly pressed mass-produced goods.
Subsequent drying takes around 24 hours for most durum wheat shapes and occurs at low temperatures, rather than drying the noodles in a few hours with high heat. This is precisely what preserves the aroma of the grain, says Pietro Giugliarelli, whereas fast industrial drying destroys a large part of it.
For egg noodles, a high egg content is the third constant, often around 30 percent, processed without any additional water because the moisture from the eggs is sufficient for a supple dough. The durum wheat shapes, on the other hand, consist of 100 percent durum wheat semolina and water, without any egg, which makes them firmer and more neutral in taste than their egg-containing siblings.
If you boil both types of pasta side by side, you will immediately taste the difference: the egg noodle remains supple and delicate, the durum wheat shape more "al dente" and hearty. Depending on the thickness, both require between 3 and 9 minutes of cooking time; the thinner shapes like linguine cook much faster than robust tubes like rigatoni or paccheri.
Egg noodles for every occasion
The largest part of the assortment is made up of egg noodles, from simple linguine to wide tagliatelle and pappardelle, as well as flavored varieties with lemon, chili, or spinach.
Unusual shapes are also included, such as black linguine with squid ink or refined truffle noodles for special occasions, as well as tagliolini for delicate soups and fettuccine as the wider sister of tagliatelle. If you prefer it spicy, choose the chili variety, which imparts a subtle heat even to the raw noodle.
What they all have in common is the high egg content and the fine, supple consistency, which differs significantly from pure durum wheat shapes. The dough is bound exclusively with fresh eggs, without any additional water, which gives the shapes their velvety, slightly yellowish note.
Those who want to discover the full range will find all 13 varieties at a glance in the Filotea egg noodle collection, from the classic everyday noodle to the noodle for a special occasion. Most packages weigh 250 g, which is enough for 2 to 3 portions, depending on the side dish and hunger.
Durum wheat pasta, hearty shapes without egg
In addition to the egg noodles, Filotea carries a smaller but equally consistent range of pure durum wheat shapes, made exclusively from durum wheat semolina and water, without eggs. These include long shapes such as spaghettoni and their even more robust sister, Ultra Spaghettoni, with a larger diameter for those who like it even firmer, as well as short, compact shapes like paccheri, rigatoni, calamarata, and the hand-shaped orecchiette.
These six shapes are aimed at those looking for a firmer, more neutral base, for example for hearty meat sauces or seafood dishes. Calamarata owes its name to its resemblance to squid rings and fits well with seafood, while orecchiette are traditionally shaped by hand over the thumb before being gently dried in the manufactory.
Most packages contain 500 g, enough for 4 to 5 portions. In the Filotea durum wheat pasta collection, all six varieties are listed side by side, sorted from slender to robust.
Sauce and pesto from the same manufacturer
Only in recent years has Filotea expanded its range to include ready-made sauces, three "sughi" and two pestos, all produced in small batches in Ancona, in jars of 280 g for the sauces and 130 g for the pestos. These include a mild Sugo al Basilico, a spicier version with chili, and a rich Sugo al Ragù with meat and red wine.
For the pestos, you can choose between a classic Pesto Genovese with pine nuts and cashews or a heartier pistachio pesto with a 21 percent pistachio content. Both are suitable for pasta as well as a spread for bread or as a base for a quick salad dressing.
All five sauces are created according to the same principle as the pasta itself: as few ingredients as possible, each one precisely selected, without any preservatives or artificial colors. The Sugo al Ragù, for instance, matures with red wine and meat for several hours over a low flame before being jarred, while the pestos are stirred cold so that the fresh basil or pistachio aroma is not lost due to heat.
In the Filotea sugo and pesto collection, all five sauces can be compared directly, from mild to strong, from tomato to nut.
Enjoyment tip
Those trying Filotea for the first time are best off starting with a classic egg noodle like tagliatelle and a mild sauce before moving on to heartier durum wheat shapes and spicier sauces. This allows you to discover the range of 24 products step by step, from the manufactory in Ancona to your own plate.
If you cannot decide between the 19 pasta shapes, tagliatelle with a mild Sugo al Basilico is the safest entry point before you slowly work your way up to the heartier shapes and spicier sauces.
