Penne Rigate – Durum Wheat Pasta

Penne Rigate, the quill-shaped pasta with ridges for any sauce

La Campofilone's Penne Rigate are short, diagonally cut tube pasta made from durum wheat semolina and water, featuring a ridged surface to hold sauce better. Extruded through bronze dies and dried slowly, they remain al dente until the very last bite.

Penne Rigate take their name from "penna d'oca," the goose quill, whose diagonally cut tip inspired the shape of the pasta. "Rigate" means ridged and refers to the fine grooves on the surface, as opposed to Penne Lisce, which have a smooth surface. At La Campofilone, they are made from just two ingredients: durum wheat semolina and water.

Ridged instead of smooth, diagonal instead of straight

Two details distinguish penne from other tubular formats: the diagonally cut ends, which resemble a quill pen, and the ridges on the surface, which, combined with the rough bronze texture, ensure that sauces actually cling to the pasta rather than sliding off.

Penne Rigate differ from the slightly larger, straight-cut Rigatoni from La Campofilone primarily in diameter and firmness: they are more compact, firmer, and have a shorter cooking time. Both formats come from the same workshop but are suitable for slightly different dishes: penne for sauces with smaller ingredients, and rigatoni for heartier, chunkier ragouts. If you have both in your pantry, you will find the perfect format for almost any sauce.

Arrabbiata, al forno, or in pasta salad

Penne Rigate are all-rounders: spicy and zesty as Penne all'Arrabbiata, creamy and cheesy as Penne al forno from the oven, or served cold in a pasta salad, where their tubular shape prevents them from turning mushy as quickly as other formats.

The Sugo Arrabbiata by Chef Francesco provides a bold flavor with noticeable heat; simply heat it up briefly and toss it with the hot penne. For the oven-baked version, all you need is sauce, grated cheese, and 10 minutes at a high temperature. If you like, you can add a little Gorgonzola; it melts and pleasantly rounds off the heat of the sauce.

Enzo Rossi and the ridges from the bronze die

Since 1998, Enzo Rossi has led the family business—founded in 1912 in the small coastal town of Campofilone—together with his wife and their daughters, Maria Vittoria and Federica. As with all of the company's durum wheat pasta, Enzo Rossi explains that only their own durum wheat from the provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Macerata goes into the dough: it is GMO-free, harvested in summer, and locally milled into semolina.

The ridges are created directly during extrusion through the bronze die, the same process that gives the manufacturer's other formats their rough, rather than smooth, texture. They are then dried for 20 to 36 hours at a low, controlled temperature—a process that is usually completed in a fraction of that time for industrial mass-produced pasta, at the expense of texture and aroma. You can find more durum wheat formats from the same workshop in the entire La Campofilone range.

Spicy tomato sauce and plenty of Pecorino

Boil the Penne Rigate in plenty of salted water for about 8 minutes until they still have a pleasant bite and are not yet soft. Toss with a spicy tomato sauce, sprinkle with plenty of freshly grated Pecorino, and serve immediately while steaming hot. For pasta salad, rinse the cooked penne under cold water; this immediately stops the cooking process and keeps them perfectly firm before you mix them with tomatoes, olives, and a little olive oil.