We make pasta in the old fashion way.

By Hand !

At LAGIOS Family Artisan Pasta Factory we make pasta the way it was made hundreds of years ago : Simply by Hand !

In this image you see workers from the Lagios Farm Factory holding their signature Vides, each of which was folded by hand into the shape of a conical hat. These hats can be stuffed just like Greek home cooks have been doing with Trachana, Kritharaki, Hilopita, Makaroni, Kofta, Kohylia and Vides for centuries. The colors are all natural, and take the spinach green, squid ink black, or hot pepper red traditional pastas a step further and combine a fantastic rainbow array of colors into one piece of pasta. This is a feat that is not simple to perform, and still have the pasta hold its shape and not come undone while cooking. Their manually processed white and yellow pasta is also equally magnificent and unsurpassable in quality and actual flavor of the pasta itself, regardless of the sauce used for serving. With these pages, we would like to bring you images and facts on the pasta production of one of the finest pasta factories in the Balkans that is located in Sperchiada, the most important region in Greece for wheat, milk, eggs and pasta production.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Sperchiada : Ancient Land of Grains, Water Springs and Lamb Flocks

Sperchiada is the region located in the "heart" of the geographic boot of Greece. People here have a strong agricultural tradition and the peasant staples of the past have evolved today into some of the finest high cuisine, and this is where the extra durum wheat to make pasta is grown.

Sperchiada region map

Sperchiada landscape

Lagios Family Farm history started in the early fifties. The modern day artisan Pasta Factory uses select grains, day eggs, fresh dairy lamb milk and slow processing techniques that create a pasta that is probably among the best that we can find on the market today. The history of pasta is very interesting. Marco Polo introduced pasta from the Orient, but this was the perishable, soft kind of pasta.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Today people in Sperchiada still make fresh pasta as per family tradition, using the local extra durum wheat flour, Sperchiada springs mineral water, local flocks fresh lamb milk and day eggs.

The Lagios Family in the early seventies

Lagios Farm inauguration party in 1954

Artisan Pasta Today

Lagios Farm has brought the technique several steps further to make a pasta that is so fabulous that perhaps one of the best ways to serve it is with a simple butter and parmesan cheese, or garlic and oil, just to fully savor the texture and flavor of this pasta. One of our customers who discovered our pasta exclaims, "It's like eating real food for the first time!" The quality of the locally grown durum wheat, the local springs water, the dairy milk, the fresh eggs and the actual method employed by the Lagios Farm Factory are the most important aspects of the pasta production. Unlike other pasta factories that may pass the pasta through the dye repeatedly, Lagios Farm has a minimal number of passes through the dye giving the pasta remarkable strength while preserving the structural integrity of the proteins and glutens.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Processing Artisan Pasta

Whether making white pasta or pasta containing dehydrated natural dyes extracted from spinach, tomatoes, red beets, tumeric, pepper, or squid ink, the pasta dough goes through the same extraction process using a bronze dye. Large industrial pasta factories uses a more resistant teflon coated steel dye which gives the pasta a smooth white look. Lagios Farm artisan pasta is extruded through a bronze dye giving the dried pasta a rough texture to better hold the sauce, and yellowish powdery appearance making it look more like real food. The use of this kind of dye works in conjunction with the Italian drying method, in order to yield a pasta that will swell up to amazing size and have its own unique flavor. Depending on the type of pasta, the extruded shape is allowed to dry for 20 to 48 hours at the low temperature of 29-33 degrees Celsius, unlike industrial pasta which is dried at a 90-95 degrees for a short time.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

This allows the large industry to pump out large amounts of pasta in a short time, pasta that will have an unnaturally longer shelf life, but also 40% less lysine (an essential amino acid) and the formation of a protein reticulum that holds in more starch (more carbs) when cooking this lesser quality pasta. Drying at a low temperature for several days ensures that the drying flour matrix forms with large open pores, thereby yielding more easily digested carbohydrates, and a pasta shape that will absorb water with great efficiency while cooking, swelling up to several times its dry size after boiling ! Furthermore, this slow drying process at a low temperature favors a chemical reaction that lowers the pH of the pasta itself, giving it a unique and delicious flavor.

Greek quality meets Italian technology

Lagios Farm Artisan Pasta Factory is equipped with La Parmigiana machinery
La Parmigiana was founded in Fidenza (Italy) in 1949, during the post war and the Italian reconstruction period. Thanks to the economic boom and the consequential positive reflection on all the social classes, the Italians became more demanding and expected a constant higher quality of pasta, no longer as a food product for the lower classes but indispensable for which is known as the perfect diet, the Mediterranean diet.

This is how the first mechanical pasta machine was invented in Fidenza, producing 10 kgs/h.
From that day the Parmigiana attention has always been aimed at combining the best technologies to optimize and ease the work of pasta producers, maintaining as main objective the high quality of the pasta produced with its machines. Thanks to the efforts and the experience achieved in almost 60 years of activity, La Parmigiana now satisfies customers all over the world, being the leading Italian machinery and plants producer for artisan pasta processing. La Parmigiana machines are built with special materials which do not interfere with any type of flour used during the working process and utilise the latest generation technologies which allow an easier daily use. La Parmigiana is the absolute leader in the PLC system which allows the connection via modem from the offices to the machines all around the world, monitoring the state of all the machines at any time and promptly helping its customers with their daily production.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Eat Pasta - Live Better !

Follow the social conviviality of Greece and eat artisan, handmade pasta with your friends for a healthy, and festive gathering! What can be more fun for your family light dinner than to serve a feta stuffed Trahana, cooked with the traditional Lagios Farm recipe? Sounds complicated? It actually isn't, and when you get the Lagios Farm artisan pasta it comes with simple to follow instructions. Another remarkable quality of our pasta is the colors, and the close proximity of the layers of different colors, giving it a magical, playful and attractive rainbow design whose colors will not fade or come undone at the joints. We offer several traditional recipes that we recommend for you and your friends.

The classic HILOPITA with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese and rustic cock meat

The traditional TRAHANA, produced with both sweet or bitter taste

The classic Bitter TRAHANA soup, cooked with feta cheese and toasted bread

The classic Sweet TRAHANA Pie, cooked with dairy lamb milk

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Products by LAGIOS Farm Artisan Pasta Factory TRACHANA (Bitter or Sweet)

The all times classic Greek pasta, ideal for soups and pies, made with small granules of artisan pasta, with sour lamb milk and whole-wheat meal flour, which when boiled make a creamy tasty and nutritious soup.

VIDES
This shape is nontraditional and was invented by Lagios Farm as an art form. Our customers love this shape that is appealing and unusual. Use with any sauce and the shape will capture chunks of the sauce, just as you like it.

KOFTA
A fabulous artisan pasta from Sperchiada region, these Kofta are a classic shape for central Greece pasta dishes.

KOHYLIA
This shape is a non-traditional art form. Our customers love this shape that is appealing and unusual. Use with any sauce and the shape will capture chunks of the sauce, just as you like it.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

KRITHARAKI
These small shaped pasta will grow to two to three times its size when added to chicken or beef meat, in which you may want to add pasta. Ideal for small children who can't eat large pasta. Serve preferably with tomato sauce.

HILOPITA
This Greek specialty shape is one of the best pasta we've ever produced. Manually processed by the Lagios Farm team, this delicious pasta has the consistency of a dumpling. Let it cook for a good 20 minutes, and serve with any sauce, especially tomato and rustic cock meat, as they would in Sperchiada.

MAKARONI
These traditional, rustic spaghetti are the only ones we know they are really hand made by a factory in Greece. Each strand is different from another one in the pack. A rough surface is beautiful and holds any sauce. A great value at the same price as the regular dye extruded pasta by Lagios Farm.

HILOPITA RAINBOW
These Hilopita are hand made into a one inch wide delicate silky ribbon. Colors are natural dehydrated vegetable dyes, but the delicious flavor is due to the selection of the extra durum wheat used. Use with any delicate sauce such as a basil pesto or creamy tomato sauce. We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

MAKARONI RAINBOW
This unbelievable Makaroni has a rainbow array of colors, each indicative of the different natural ingredients that are dehydrated and added to the flour mix. Green is spinach, yellow is tumeric, red is beet root, orange is tomato, carrot, or red pepper. A wonderfully flavorful pasta with the color changing with almost every pack.

We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !

Mr. George Lagios LAGIOS FARM General Manager

Thank You !
We make pasta in the old fashion way. By Hand !