The Wheat

azienda agricola biologica toscana

The Land

The one in Santa Luce is an uncontaminated environment that has been strenuously defended as for years farmers, in agreement with the Municipality, have chosen to prohibit the spillage of urban and industrial sludge throughout the area.

These places have always been suitable for the cultivation of wheat.

Indeed, the hilly terrain of Santa Luce is alkaline and clayey: this, combined with the humid air from the sea, ensures the development of ears with full grains rich in nutrients during the growing period.

The Bertoli family farm covers an area of cultivated land of about 150 hectares, in addition to the land left as woods.

Imagine walking so far on a June day: we could admire fields of wheat, alfalfa, sainfoin, clover, barley, oats, field beans, and hay.

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The growing of wheat

“We know our land in depth and we have chosen the best wheat for it”.

The Molino and Pastificio sul Lago pasta is obtained from the processing of durum wheat, grown by the company with a variety of traditional and historical durum wheat, suitable for the area it is grown on.

In particular, the Molino and Pastificio sul Lago pasta is made with the old grains Senatore Cappelli and Saragolla (very similar to kamut) and other native varieties such as Creso and Levante, which guarantee a golden yellow colour to the pasta.

The Levante is a variety with a medium-late cycle, medium in size, and with good resistance to the main diseases, cold, and lodging.

It has a high protein content, good gluten quality, and a high yellow index.

These are natural and not genetically-modified grains.

These varieties perfectly adapt to the microclimate of the area as they do not lodge and do not come into contact with the ground, thus maintaining their nutritional properties.

Moreover, the morphology of the territory, clayey and hilly, significantly reduces fungal and pathogenic diseases: An ideal condition for excellent ripening.

Pasta processing

 

Pasta Molino and Pastificio sul Lago is produced in a state-of-the-art pasta factory, equipped with highly technological and modern machinery that guarantees an accurate and controlled processing of the highest quality.

Creating a high-quality product is the current and future challenge that the Bertoli family faces with the hope, one day, of being able to build their own pasta factory and close their pasta’s production cycle right in the municipality of Santa Luce.

The pasta is bronze-drawn and dried at very low temperatures in order to maintain its high porosity and to preserve all its organoleptic characteristics.

This is a slow and gentle process that respects the raw material and, even more than that, enhances it, giving the final product a natural consistency and excellent resistance to cooking.

Slow drying at natural temperature is, moreover, what really makes it special. Indeed, industrially-produced pasta is subjected to very high temperatures and thus dried in a very short time.

The problem with this method, however, is that it “vitrifies” the pasta, forming a sort of hard and waterproof shell around it.

This will then result in pasta that will be passed off as “al dente” but that will always maintain an annoyingly hard layer on the outside, and for which cooking will never be uniform throughout.

Last but not least, the impermeability of this shell will also make it hard for the pasta to absorb sauces.

Natural drying, on the other hand, takes longer but allows the pasta to absorb the water during cooking in a more uniform way and to blend superbly with the sauce chosen for the seasoning.

About Us

Azienda Agricola La Ghiraia 
di Bertoli Giuseppe
Via di Franata, 18 
56040 Pastina - PISA
VAT number: 00758840508  

+39 371 4852562

pastabertoli@gmail.com

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