Process for the preparation of cooked pasta, in particular for the preparation of ready-to-eat meals having a long shelf-life

#The present invention broadly relates to the technological field of the production of ready-to-eat food dishes based on pre-cooked alimentary pasta.

#In particular, the invention relates to a method of producing cooked (or pre-cooked) alimentary pasta, wherein the pasta is processed with an edible acid, and thus referred to as “acidic pasta”, and is useful to prepare ready-to-eat dishes featuring long shelf-life at both room and refrigerator temperatures.

#It is recognised that many types of cooked alimentary pasta that currently enter the commercial production of ready-to-eat dishes are the outcome of research efforts directed to make, on industrial basis, alimentary pasta for direct consumption which, on the one side, would have good organoleptic and quality characteristics, and on the other, could be preserved at room and refrigerator temperatures for long periods.

#A dough for alimentary pasta was prepared by mixing together the following ingredients, in percent by weight on the dough weight: 45% semolina of durum fine flour, 46% water, 9% gluten, and an aqueous solution of glucone-delta-lactone acid having a pH of 2.8 in a preset amount to attain a pH of 3.9 for the dough.

#The kneaded dough had a moisture content of 32%, and was extruded conventionally into conventional spaghettis. The resulting fresh spaghettis were dried conventionally to bring their moisture content down to no more than 11,5%.

#The dried spaghettis were cooked “al dente” for 12 minutes in plenty salted water, and then strained and rinsed with cold water.