Pasta since 1984: the Minaglia brothers from Montoggio
Pastificio Artigianale Alta Valle Scrivia was founded in 1984 by the brothers Paolo and Francesco Minaglia in Montoggio — a small town in the Ligurian Apennines, about 30 kilometers behind Genoa in the mountains. The family was thus part of a long regional tradition: Liguria is considered one of the oldest pasta regions in Italy, and the art of pasta-making was passed down through generations in the Alta Valle Scrivia as well. What the Minaglias built from nothing is today a firm reference point for Ligurian pasta specialties — with customers in Italy, Europe, and beyond. The Pasta di Liguria line is their certified organic gourmet range, which captures the artisanal essence of the business in an independent brand.
Spring water from the nature park, bronze die, slow drying
The location in Montoggio is no coincidence. The Pastificio is located directly on the edge of the Parco Naturale dell'Antola, and the spring water from this protected area flows unfiltered into the dough. For the organic line, the Minaglias use exclusively 100% certified organic durum wheat semolina from Italian cultivation and milling — without flavorings, without colorings, without additives of any kind.
The shaping is done by bronze extrusion: the rough, porous surface that is created is not an aesthetic detail, but a functional one — sauces adhere noticeably better than to smoothly extruded industrial pasta. Subsequently, the pasta dries at a low temperature in a long, natural process that preserves the aromas and bite characteristics of the wheat. The result is a pasta with clearly defined structural properties: firm to the bite, with the characteristic nutty flavor of good durum wheat semolina.
Ligurian shapes that are hard to find elsewhere
The range of the Pasta di Liguria line follows the centuries-old tradition of Ligurian shapes. Trofiette — the short, spirally twisted noodles that are classically served with pesto, beans, and potatoes — are represented just as much as Trenette, the flat Ligurian cut for Pesto al Genovese. Croxetti are round, coin-shaped discs that are traditionally stamped with a wooden mold and, due to their shape, absorb sauces like mushroom ragù or beurre noisette particularly well. Foglie d'ulivo, olive leaf pasta, and Maccheroni Genovesi complement the range with further regional specialties. The Taglierini verdi — green ribbon noodles, whose color comes from traditionally used spinach or wild herbs — are representative of the Ligurian habit of enriching the dough with seasonally abundant leafy vegetables. Those who order here get shapes that hardly any other manufacturer offers outside of Liguria in organic quality and artisanal execution.
