I've Been Making Pasta with The Internet-Famous Giant Fusilli and It Lives Up to the Hype

Unless you've been doing a digital detox, you've probably spotted this imported giant fusilli, La Fabbrica Della Pasta Colonne Pompei, making appearances all over social media. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a package as soon as possible to try it out in my own home kitchen, and now that I've tried it myself a few times, I can 100% confirm that this pasta lives up to the hype! Here's a deep dive into the story behind Colonne Pompei, why it's making waves on the internet, and how to get it, cook with it, and serve it with a big pot of creamy, rich, flavorful vodka sauce that will seep into every single crevice of these gorgeously whimsical noodles!

Where Did Giant Fusilli Come From?

La Fabbrica Della Pasta is an Italy-based pasta company whose connection to pasta ties back to ancient times. In Gragnano, Italy, pasta making is an art and a heritage of history, culture, and tradition, and this company carries a range of unique and beautiful pasta. I was very excited to discover that La Fabbrica Della Pasta's Colonne Pompei is available at Piccolo's Gastronomia, an Italian market located in Ridgefield, New Jersey, which is coincidentally near where I live. I received my delivery within just days of ordering and headed straight to the kitchen with excitement and curiosity!

Why Is Giant Fusilli So Good?

Traditional fusilli is a short, twisted or spiral-shaped pasta made from semolina flour. Because of its shape, fusilli is loved for the way it holds onto sauces. This Collone Pompei is like fusilli on steroids. It's dramatically long, hearty, and super spiraly, meaning it has plenty of surface area to capture and absorb delicious sauces. Additionally, part of what makes it so good is the reason it's made an impact on social media: it makes eating fun! It's nearly impossible to bring one of these long noodles up out of the bowl and back down into your mouth without having a good laugh.

Where To Get Giant Fusilli

I ordered this 17.6-ounce package of La Fabbrica Della Pasta Colonne Pompei from Piccolo's Gastronomia. They accept online orders for pick-up or shipping, and also offer an 8-pack box with free shipping. One package of pasta costs $11.99, and the 8-pack box costs $89.95.

This pasta is imported, and certainly more expensive than other boxed and packaged pastas on the grocery shelves, but I can confidently say that it is 100% worth the price and the hype surrounding it on Instagram! It may not be your everyday pasta given the price and the possible need to have it shipped, but La Fabbrica Della Pasta Colonne Pompei is an ideal option for special occasion meals and holidays. It certainly adds a WOW factor to the table, is fun to eat (try doing so without laughing!), and this pasta is incredibly hearty and filling. However, if you're interested in another option, you can also find fusilli similar to this shape and size on Amazon, as well as this much more budget-friendly jumbo fusilli at World Market, which I've also tried many times and absolutely love, as does my entire family whenever we all gather for Sunday dinner!

How To Cook Giant Fusilli

• Use a deep, large pot for boiling. Because these noodles are thick and very long, you'll need a deep, large pot for boiling them. They take some time to soften into the water because they are thicker and heavier than the average noodle. If you use a more shallow pot or deep saucepan, you run the risk of uneven cooking. I used my Le Creuset 10-quart stock pot and it was perfect.
• Don't cook this pasta fully. This pasta should be cooked until almost fully done. The noodles are quite heavy, and you run the risk of breaking them apart in transferring them from the boiling water to the simmering sauce if they're overcooked.
• Be careful handling the cooked pasta. These noodles are notorious for soaking up sauces, and they're also great at holding on to the boiling water they've cooked. Be careful lifting the noodles from the water if you're using tongs, because a more-than average amount of boiling water drips down the long noodles.
• Reserve 1-2 mugs of pasta water. Reserving starchy pasta water should always be a step in preparing pasta dishes, but it's especially important for heavy, hearty noodles like this. They soak up sauces very quickly and thoroughly, and by having pasta water on hand, you can continue reviving and freshening up the fusilli so that it can be enjoyed for hours to come.
• Keep Collone Pompei glossy from the start. If the pasta is done a few minutes before your sauce, coat it with some pasta water or olive oil to avoid sticking.

How To Serve Giant Fusilli

As soon as I got my hands on this La Fabbrica Della Pasta Colonne Pompei, I knew I had to prepare a pot of homemade vodka sauce that would cascade into the nooks and crannies of each giant corkscrew noodle. You could use one straight from a jar, or make it homemade. But any of your favorite pasta sauces would work well on these noodles, including:

• Alfredo Sauce
• Carbonara
• Lemon Pasta Sauce
• Oxtail Ragu
• Pasta with Peas and Sausage
• Basil Cream Sauce
• Pesto