The process of the invention for the production of rice pasta comprises the steps of: a) soaking of rice grains in water at a temperature and for a time in order to obtain a grain moisture content between 35 and 40% by weight, b) draining-off the excess water, c) waiting to equilibrate the within-grain moisture, d) heat treating the rice grains in an extruder by contact with heated walls in order to obtain a semi-finished product having a temperature between 60 and 90 °C, and e) kneading the semi-finished product, extruding, drawing, and finally drying the same in order to obtain a dried rice pasta with a moisture content below 15% by weight. The rice grains in step (a) comprise whole and/or broken grains of parboiled rice and/or parboiled brown rice.