What’s The World's Most Expensive Dry Pasta?
Short answer
280g of tagliatelle from premium pasta producer Atavi will set you back £22. In terms of cost per kilo, that makes it the most expensive dried pasta on earth.
Long answer
Pasta is seen worldwide as nutritious, tasty, easy to cook, and, above all, affordable. 500g of Morrisons' Savers Spaghetti will feed over six hungry mouths and set you back just 28p. That is one of the key reasons pasta is on rotation at so many families' weeknight dinners.
We've previously detailed why expensive pasta warrants the price tag if you can afford it, but we were only really talking about the stuff you will find in your local delicatessen or farm shop. As it turns out, there is one company producing pasta that's so expensive that one portion will cost you £7.33 per head, and that's before you've even thought about buying a sauce or any accompanying proteins.
Atavi, the brainchild of Michelin-starred Spanish chef Albert Adrià, produces the world's most expensive dry pasta. Adrià was once the pastry chef at the legendary El Bulli restaurant and is credited withmany modernist cuisine techniques that became popular in the 1990s.
Atavi's trilogy of products costs between £20 and £22 for a 280g box. All three are made with organic Italian durum wheat semolina and are best cooked "risotto-style" by adding the water in stages. The creators say this helps to turn the cooking water into a starch-rich, creamy sauce that enhances the pasta's flavour.
At first, it might seem surprising that Atavi's pasta shape of choice is tagliatelle. After all, most posh pasta brands rely on unusual or lesser-known shapes to give their products a premium price tag. Instead, Atavi has chosen a classic shape that pairs well with a wide variety of sauces so as not to distract from their products' flavours and textures.
Sourdough pasta (£20 per 280g)
Atavi's sourdough pasta evokes the flavours of a freshly baked loaf and is described as having aromas of breadcrumbs and straw. Flavour-wise, it's lightly sour with hints of apricot, liquorice, and lemon zest.
Umami pasta (£20 per 280g)
Atavi's umami pasta is fermented for almost two days, giving it a deeply savoury and complex taste profile.
Smoked pasta (£22 per 280g)
This unique creation has received plenty of positive online reviews and is infused with the smoky flavours of vine canes. At over £78/kg, it is 50% more expensive than lobster and a staggering 13,936 times more expensive than the UK's cheapest pasta sold by Morrisons.
Further reading
Although Atavi is the most expensive dried pasta for cost per kilo, some exceptionally rare shapes, the fantastic su filindeu in particular, could cost more to get your hands on. That's because it is only made by a handful of women in a remote Sardinian town and is therefore not just a nightmare to get hold of, but you'll be stung with eye-watering import costs.
Regarding expensive pesto, check out our shiso pesto blog post. At £325/kg, this sauce competes with products like Wagyu steak and caviar in the cost stakes.