Why Our Pasta

Sfoglina is superior because we are using local grains that are hand milled, utilizing brass dies and slow drying the pasta.  This not only leads to a better flavor but is also is a healthier option than what you traditionally find in a grocery store. 

Local Grain

We at Sfoglina have always been huge advocates of eating local and supporting small businesses.  This is more important now more than ever.  Supporting Colorado owned businesses help keep our economy strong.   Also, sourcing local resources better for the environment and reduces the trail the food takes to get from the farm to your mouth.

We are committed to sourcing as local as possible whenever possible.  We are sourcing our wheat berries from grains from the plains https://www.grainsfromtheplains.com/ located outside of Hugo Colorado and Central Milling https://centralmilling.com/ located in Utah.

Hand Milled

Most of the nutrition in grain is found in the bran and germ of the kernel. But commercial flours remove the bran and germ because without the oils that those parts contain, the flour lasts longer on the shelves. The grain kernel contains over 30 nutrients, and most of them are removed during the commercial milling process. Even if you buy “enriched” flour, you are only getting a fraction of the nutrition that is readily available in the whole grain. All those natural oils in the grain kernel add a lightness and flavor to your flour.  Also, fresh milled flour tastes better.  The older the flour the more oxidized it is.  90 days after flour is milled it has lost almost all of its flavor.

 Brass Die

Pasta Dough run through a brass die gets tiny tears along the surface of the dough.  This creates a slightly rough surface.  Sauces stick better to this rough surface than pasta dough run through other dies.  

Slow Dried Pasta

When you boil a slow-dried artisan pasta just shy of “done,” it has a nice al dente bite yet easily dissolves into a creamy paste as you chew. As the pasta dissolves, it mixes with the condiment in your mouth, creating an incredible, lush texture. The quick-dried pastas still have a nice bite, but they don’t dissolve as easily. They have a more rubbery quality and tend to bounce around in your mouth as you chew instead of melding with the sauce

 Have you ever scrambled eggs over too high a heat? They cook quickly and get kind of rubbery and bouncy. It’s very similar when you dry pasta at high temperatures.

With quick-dried pasta, the high heat causes the protein web to become so extensive and so strong that it traps the wheat starch within the web. It’s like bake-drying the pasta. When you boil quick-dried pasta, the protein web is so sturdy that hot water can’t reach the starch granules as easily, so the starch doesn’t dissolve as much or “gelatinize” into that beautiful creamy paste that Marc and I love so much.