De Cecco Ziti

Tast­ing Notes from the Curator

Ziti or Zita is a long tubu­lar pas­ta that is quite thick with a fair­ly rough tex­ture, is bro­ken by hand into uneven pieces, before being put in the saucepan to cook.

Prepa­ra­tion

Ziti is best for oven-baked recipes with rich sauces filled with meat, veg­eta­bles or strong Ital­ian cheeses such as Grana Padano, Pecori­no Romano, Pro­volone or Cacio­cav­al­lo. Alter­na­tive­ly, it is also excel­lent served with veg­etable sauces pre­pared with toma­to and the addi­tion of pep­pers, aubergines and courgettes.

If you would like some­thing tra­di­tion­al, Pas­ta la Gen­ovese, or alla Gen­ovese, is an icon­ic Neapoli­tan recipe that uses Ziti. It is a very old recipe cre­at­ed in 15^th cen­tu­ry that requires slow cook­ing to make the meat tender. 

Quin­tes­sen­tial­ly Neapolitan

Ziti is THE pas­ta for feasts, hol­i­days, cel­e­bra­to­ry meals and fam­i­ly Sun­day lunch­es in Italy. Tra­di­tions are impor­tant in the South­ern Ital­ian region. This pas­ta is tra­di­tion­al­ly bro­ken by hand, just before cook­ing, usu­al­ly a shared activ­i­ty by women of the fam­i­ly. It is usu­al­ly bro­ken into 4 pieces but less or more are possible.

The Ziti pas­ta is also a sta­ple dur­ing wed­dings, often served as the first course of the bridal ban­quets. The name ​‘ziti’ came from the word ​‘zitelle’ mean­ing maid or sin­gle woman and the pas­ta is an essen­tial food to cel­e­brate a woman enter­ing the mar­ried life as a new bride. 

Storage Instructions

Store in a cool dry place.