30 DAYS OPEN PURCHASELong pasta gets hung up. But everything else – orecchiette, farfalle, garganelli, cavatelli, ravioli and little nests of tagliatelle – needs somewhere to lie. And if it lies on a worktop or a tray, the top dries while the underside stays damp and sticky. Telaio is a drying frame with a fine mesh in a wooden frame, and the mesh lets air reach the pasta from every direction, so it dries evenly without you having to turn every piece.
The frame stands on four short feet that lift the mesh off the worktop so air can circulate underneath too. If you make a lot of pasta, you can stack several frames on top of each other and get double or triple the drying area on the same worktop space. The feet come off for storage, so it takes up hardly any room in the cupboard.
It's an old-fashioned and very simple tool, basically the same idea Italian kitchens have used for a long time, but with far more even mesh than an old window screen. It works just as well for gnocchi resting before boiling as for pasta that needs to dry completely for storage.
Telaio comes from Marcato in Campodarsego near Padua, which has been making pasta machines and kitchen tools since 1930.
Pasta drying frame with fine mesh in a wooden frame. Stackable, with removable feet. Clean by brushing off flour and dough residue. Made in Italy.
