Does more expensive pasta taste better?

Alicia Vitarelli Image
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Does more expensive pasta taste better?
Does expensive gourmet pasta really taste better than the supermarket brands?

NEW YORK (WPVI) -- Today, we're tackling one of my all-time favorite topics - pasta.

And the big question when it comes to traditionalists and foodies alike: Does it have to be expensive to be good?

Do you need spring water, imported semolina flour and a bronze extruder to create perfect pasta? How does that gourmet, artisan batch stack up to a store bought box?

Good Morning America settled the debate Wednesday morning with the ultimate pasta experts - Nonnas, or Italian grandmas.

The head pasta maker at Eataly in New York City set up a blind taste test comparing dried spaghetti at three different price points: $1, $2.50 and $10 a pound.

They were all dressed the same, simply with olive oil and garlic.

Three "Nonnas" tried them all, not knowing which was which. They were asked to choose their favorite and then guess which one they thought was the most expensive.

Nonna Romana Sciddurlo chose the pasta labeled "C" as BOTH!

"This is very good. If it's good enough for Nonna Romana it's good enough for all of us. Right?," she said.

And not only does Nonna Romana makes her own pasta, her recipes are featured in her granddaughter's cookbook, "Cooking with Nonna."

For the record...each Nonna chose a different favorite and had a different guess for most expensive.

This just proves good pasta doesn't have to cost a lot of dough.

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