I Tried Giada’s New Pasta To See if It’s Worth $10 a Box

Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, who has earned the trust of Italophiles and gastronomes with her authentic Italian cooking, has had some delicious news this summer. It started with a gelato drop and then a few weeks ago she debuted Giadzy Pasta by Giada De Laurentiis, her new line of Italian-made artisan pasta that's sold on her e-commerce platform, Giadzy.

"Pasta was a no-brainer," says De Laurentiis. And although deciding to make pasta might have been easy, developing the product took a lot of research and many many conversations with the best pasta makers in Italy. The eight different pasta shapes are made in Italy's Abruzzo region using organic semolina flour and spring water from the Majella mountain range. The shapes are cut with 100-year-old bronze dies.

As an avid home cook with a passion for Italian pasta dishes, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this beautiful pasta, but I noticed that some shapes were already sold out. Lucky for me, the Giadzy team graciously sent me three shapes: Paccheri, Manfredi Lunghi and Buccatini to try in my kitchen. After seeing that each bag cost $10.50, I was even more curious to see how it compared to my everyday dried pasta.

Related: I Tried Giada De Laurentiis' White Pesto and My Weeknight Dinners are Forever Changed

As with all deliveries from Giadzy, the pasta arrives in a beautifully decorated box and includes a note signed by De Laurentiis, which is an extra special touch for online customers. The pasta itself is also packaged elegantly, with striking illustrations on each box.

I was sent three different shapes, all of which were very different. Because these aren't the typical supermarket shapes, here's a little info about each one.

Manfredi Lunghi: A ruffled-edge pasta that looks like long, skinny lasagna noodles. The noodles are approximately 22 inches long and are typically broken before cooking.

Bucatini: You might be familiar with this shape. It looks like thick spaghetti but has a hole in the center, which ensures that the pasta cooks thoroughly and can also soak up sauces.

Paccheri: This large tubular type of pasta is often stuffed or served with rich heavier sauces. It's said that the name, which means slap in Italian, comes from the sound you hear when the cooked pasta is mixed with sauce.

What I Made With My Giadzy Pasta

To get the full Giada experience, I decided to pair one of the pasta with a recipe from the Giadzy site. After a little deliberation, I chose a vegetarian dish that featured the Paccheri: Paccheri Pasta with Marsala Mushrooms.

Initially, I couldn't quite understand why this particular sauce was paired with the Paccheri, but after one bite I had my answer. The sauce, which was mainly Marsala wine and some stock, coated the pasta perfectly. The large tubes were perfect for grabbing onto all of the other delicious ingredients: peppery arugula, chopped toasted pistachios and sautéed porcini mushrooms.

My Honest Opinion of Giadzy Pasta

As a self-proclaimed pasta lover, this pasta was 100% worth the price. This is definitely not a supermarket experience, starting with the packaging and ending with the taste and texture. I loved that the noodles had a perfect al dente bite and a slightly rough texture that allowed sauces to stick to the noodles.

At $10.50 per box (each box is a little over a pound), this isn't something that you would cook every day, but it's the perfect thing to bust out for at-home date night or a special dinner party—or if you really really want to level up your Tuesday night dinner.

How to Win a Year of Giadzy Pasta

As I was finishing this story, Giada announced a giveaway for a year’s worth of Giady pasta. One winner will get a one-year subscription to the Giadzy Pasta Box, which means you'll get a box of pasta delivered right to your door every month. The contest only runs until August 25, 2023, so you need to hurry! All of the information is on the Giadzy Instagram page.

Next up: I Recreated Stanley Tucci's Fish Recipe That Inspired a Kiss From Robert Downey Jr.