Semi D’Avena

Ingredients Durum-wheat flour and water.

How Made Factory-made tiny shape cooked in broth.

Also Known As Lenti, lentine (lenses), midolline, semi di peperone (pepper seeds), perline (beads), punte d’ago (needle points), semi di cicoria, semi di grano, semi di mele, semi di melone, semi d’orzo, semi di popone, semi di riso, telline, and tempestine.

How Served Generally in broth.

Where Found Widespread.

Remarks The peasant’s strongbox of long ago, if it had existed, would have contained his most precious possessions, the seeds on which his work and his family’s sustenance depended. The better the seeds he selected, the better the harvest. The name of this pasta, literally “oat seeds,” reflects that history.