REDUCED: De Cecco pasta at Sainsbury’s & Tesco

I have written before now about the special place that De Cecco pasta holds in my heart. Made using bronze drawplates and slowly dried, it takes longer to cook than other, cheaper brands. However it is thicker and firmer, has a sweeter taste, holds its shape and texture, and doesn’t turn to sludge.

Sadly, when soaring wheat prices sent the cost of pasta soaring, I couldn’t justify spending £1.50 on a 500g bag of De Cecco when the budget stuff was a tenth of the price. (Incidentally, it was a few years ago now when all the pasta prices were shunted upwards – and they haven’t yet come down. Is the wheat market still in turmoil? Surely not!)

So today, on my first trip to Sainsbury’s since the baby was born – a treat in itself, as silly as that sounds, because I’ve been going stir-crazy cooped up at home – I was excited to see that De Cecco fusilli, penne and spaghetti are all on special offer. The 500g bags are currently reduced by more than a third, from £1.54 to £1.

Even with the discount, De Cecco is still significantly more expensive than supermarket own-brand pasta – but if you want to stock up on the best stuff, now’s the time. The special offer runs at Sainsbury’s until 22 February 2012.

Postscripts for fellow De Cecco freaks: Thanks to Skimwords, I’ve just spotted that if you want to buy in bulk, you can get De Cecco even more cheaply from Amazon. Five of the 500g bags can be yours for £3.90, which works out at £0.78 per bag. You’ll have to be patient though: delivery to the UK is free, but takes up to four weeks.

Also, readers in the comments have pointed out that De Cecco pasta is even cheaper at Tesco at the moment! It’s £0.78 for a 500g bag. Not sure how long this offer is on for though.