A slice of Italy has landed in north London with the opening of the UK's biggest pasta factory.

Located in the shadow of the HS2 works at Old Oak Common, this corner of Park Royal should perhaps be re-named 'spaghetti junction' after the ribbon was cut on Pasta Evangelists' new £13 million facility.

Gleaming stainless steel machines imported from Italy are already making unusual fresh pasta shapes to be packaged into some 50,000 meal kits a month for delivery UK wide.Ham & High: Pasta Evangelists now sells 50,000 cook at home fresh pasta kits a month based on authentic Italian recipesPasta Evangelists now sells 50,000 cook at home fresh pasta kits a month based on authentic Italian recipes (Image: Pasta Evangelists)

Sauces made to authentic Italian recipes are also cooked up at the 47,000 sqft site, with the likes of beef shin and red wine ragu, or wild mushroom simmering for up to four hours - there's even a production line for lasagne.

The brand has grown from a deli counter in Harrods food hall in 2018, to a business which has sold a million portions of restaurant quality cook-at-home pasta. They also run a Pasta Academy in Farringdon, and a restaurant in the Knightsbridge store.

In 2018, founders Alessandro Savelli and Finn Lagun were turned down in their pitch for £75,000 investment on Dragons Den, but had the last laugh when they sold the business three years later for a multi million pound sum to Italian dried pasta giant Barilla.

Founded in 1877 and still a family-owned business, they are now helping its rapid expansion across the UK.Ham & High: The factory can make unusual pasta shapes not seen in the UK including the 'dragon pasta'The factory can make unusual pasta shapes not seen in the UK including the 'dragon pasta' (Image: Pasta Evangelists)

The factory has created 60-70 jobs and will produce 90 tonnes of sauce, 15 tonnes of lasagne, and more than 50 tonnes of fresh pasta per week including shapes rarely seen in the UK such as ‘porcupine ravioli’ (crestoni), corzetti, anolini, saccottini, busiate, lingotti and pasta dragons, which went viral on the brand's TikTok earlier this year.

CEO Alessandro Savelli said: "We’re delighted to announce the launch of our first pasta factory and proud to say it will be the UK’s largest pasta factory to date. The launch comes after years of planning as we aim to expand our pasta offering to thousands of consumers across the UK. Utilising the latest technology and machinery will help us on our mission to experiment with new flavours, high-quality seasonal ingredients and a variety of pasta shapes to expand our growing pasta portfolio."Ham & High: Pasta Evanglists founder Alessandro Savelli was turned down in his pitch for investment to Dragons Den but sold his company for a reported multi million pound sum three years later to pasta giant BarillaPasta Evanglists founder Alessandro Savelli was turned down in his pitch for investment to Dragons Den but sold his company for a reported multi million pound sum three years later to pasta giant Barilla (Image: Pasta Evangelists)

Gianluca di Tondo, CEO of Barilla added: "The demand for freshly made, premium pasta has dramatically grown over the last decade, and we want to take consumers on a journey of taste exploration and discovery. We believe the new Pasta Evangelists factory will fulfill the growing demand for restaurant-quality, fresh pasta dishes, bringing the best of Italian food to the UK."

Pasta Evangelists meal kits are available from their website, Amazon Fresh, Ocado or rapid delivery platforms Gorillas, Weezy, Zapp and GoPuff with takeaways available through Deliveroo, UberEats, Just Eat.