Pappardelle – Egg Noodles

Wide Pappardelle for hearty sauces

Pappardelle from La Campofilone are extra-wide Italian egg pasta, around one and a half centimeters wide, made from durum wheat semolina and fresh free-range eggs. Not a delicate thread-like format for light sauces, but the widest ribbon pasta from the manufacturer, made for game ragu and braised dishes.

Pappardelle are the widest ribbon pasta in the Italian repertoire; their name comes from pappare, "to eat with gusto" or "to gobble up" – a name that says it all. At La Campofilone, like all of the manufacturer's egg pasta, they are made from just two ingredients: durum wheat semolina and fresh eggs, with no water and no additives.

One and a half centimeters, wide enough for game ragu

Pappardelle originally come from Tuscany, where they are served with hearty game ragu, usually made from hare or wild boar, with plenty of red wine and a long braising time. It is said that Tuscan farmers were already serving this wide pasta on feast days in the 16th century when a ragu from the hunt was on the table.

At La Campofilone, they are golden yellow, hearty, and have a distinct egg aroma – unlike narrow thread pasta, they demand sauces with texture: pieces, not just liquid. They are cooked in 1 to 2 minutes, but remain firm enough to carry a whole spoonful of ragu without collapsing underneath it.

Goulash, game ragu, or salmon with cream

Pappardelle is the shape of choice for anything hearty, chunky, and braised: goulash, wild boar Bolognese, or a hearty wild boar ragu from South Tyrol, which saves you the long braising time.

Those who prefer it milder can combine them with salmon, leaf spinach, and cream, or with seafood in white wine – the width of the pasta can handle that, too. A handful of dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water beforehand and added to the ragu, gives the Sunday plate extra depth. If you like, you can also find the narrower Rigatoni made of durum wheat in our shop if you would rather have a tube shape.

A family business for generations

La Campofilone bears the name of the medieval village on the Adriatic coast where pasta has been produced since 1912 – today under the leadership of Enzo Rossi, who took over the business in 1998 and runs it with his wife and their daughters, Maria Vittoria and Federica.

Good pasta begins in the field, as Enzo Rossi describes it: The durum wheat grows on the farm's own land in the provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Macerata, is GMO-free, and milled locally. The hens live in well-lit barn conditions with plenty of space, few animals per square meter, and calm handling, without stress or overcrowding.

In 2009, this was honored with the Good Egg Award from Compassion in World Farming, the most important international organization for animal welfare in agriculture. Hats off.

To this day, the pasta is dried by hand on folded paper sheets with all four sides turned up, for 20 to 48 hours at below 36 degrees – long enough for the color and egg aroma to be preserved, and short enough that the pasta does not become brittle. You can find more formats from the same workshop in the entire La Campofilone assortment.

Tossed briefly with the ragu

Boil the pappardelle in plenty of salted water for 1 to 2 minutes and drain well. Briefly toss in a pan with a hearty ragu so that the pasta and sauce combine, then sprinkle generously with Parmesan. A glass of robust red wine from the Marche region goes well with it; a weekend meal doesn't need more celebration than that.