There are many different varieties of pasta.[1] They are usually sorted by size, being long (pasta lunga), short (pasta corta), stuffed (ripiena), cooked in broth (pastina), stretched (strascinati) or in dumpling-like form (gnocchi/gnocchetti). Yet, due to the variety of shapes and regional variants, "one man's gnocchetto can be another's strascinato".[2]
Some pasta varieties are uniquely regional and not widely known; many types have different names based on region or language. For example, the cut rotelle is also called ruote in Italy and 'wagon wheels' in the United States. Manufacturers and cooks often invent new shapes of pasta, or may rename pre-existing shapes for marketing reasons.
Italian pasta names often end with the masculinepluraldiminutivesuffixes-ini, -elli, -illi, -etti or the feminine plurals -ine, -elle, etc., all conveying the sense of 'little'; or with the augmentative suffixes -oni, -one, meaning 'large'. Other suffixes like -otti'largish', and -acci'rough, badly made', may also occur. In Italian, all pasta type names are plural.
Long- and medium-length pasta
Long pasta may be made by extrusion or rolling and cutting.
Square or rectangle sheets of pasta that sometimes have fluted edges (lasagne ricce). The square of pasta is lasagna while the dish is lasagne[26]
Possibly from Latin lasanum or Greek lasonon, "Cooking pot",[18][26] or the Greco-Roman laganum, a flat piece of bread.[26]
bardele, lasagnoni (Veneto); capellasci (Liguria); sagne (Salento); lagana (Apulia);[26] the fluted version can also be doppio festone, sciabo, sciablo[27]
Flat strands about 1.5cm wide. Thinner sheet than lasagna. Can be white or green.
In Savonese dialect the name refers to the ribbons used as ornaments by dressmakers. In Genovese dialect however the word means napkin and refers to the size and shape of the pasta.[33]
A long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin, made of semolina or flour and water.[38] Spaghettini and spaghettoni are slightly thinner or thicker, respectively.[39]
"Little strings".[4]Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "thin string" or "twine".[38]
Named after the guitar-like device used to cut the pasta,[40] which has a wooden frame strung with metal wires, sheets of pasta are pressed down onto the device, and then the wires are "strummed" so the slivers of pasta fall through.
Long, narrow hose-like tubes[28] larger than mezzani (also called mezzi ziti) or bucatini that are traditionally broken before being put to cook.[50] The addition of the word rigati (e.g. ziti rigati) denotes lines or ridges on the pasta's surface. Ziti candelati are longer, zitoni a bit larger.
Bride and bridegroom (ziti is plural) in Sicilian dialect.[50]
Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1983 – like a rolling ocean wave in cross-section with internal rugosities, but unsuccessful and no longer produced.[89]
Large tube pasta often topped with sauce or stuffed with ingredients.[92] May collapse under own weight when cooking.[93]
from Napolitan paccharia, "Slaps" with a depreciative -ero to indicate something common.[93][94] The name has been ascribed to a slapping sound they may make when eaten.[92]
Maniche di frate, maniche rigate, rigatoni, rigatoncini, bombaroni, tufoli rigati. Moccolotti in Marche and Umbria.[94]
Medium length tubes with ridges, cut diagonally at both ends. They can be either lisce (smooth) or rigate (grooved). Mostaccioli is also sometimes used for Barilla products, pennette have a shorter length and pennoni are wider and thicker.[97]
Shaped like radiators, they were created between the First and Second World Wars.[102] They are often used in similar dishes as rotelle or fusilli because their shape works well with thicker sauces.[103]
Ditalini, tubetti, tubettini, gnocchetti di ziti, ditaletti, coralli; denti di vecchia, denti di cavallo, ganghi di vecchia, magghietti (Apulia and Sicily)[124]
Although pastina is the name for an entire family of miniature pasta shapes, it is also used to describe the most basic one in this family – small spheres, smaller than acini di pepe
Agnolini are a type of stuffed egg pasta originating from the province of Mantua (in the Mantuan dialect they are commonly called "agnulìn" or "agnulì") and are oftentimes eaten in soup or broth.'[138]
Semicircular or square pockets; can be stuffed with ricotta, a mix of cheese and meats (agnolotti di grasso), or pureed vegetables (agnolotti di magro).[139]
Squares of dough filled with cheese (or, rarely, meat) and closed to form a small hat (cappello=hat). In the large majority of Romagna the filling is made with a mixture of parmesan and soft cheese.
Two pieces of pasta on top of another, stuffed with cheese, ground meat, pureed vegetables, or mixtures thereof. Though commonly square, other forms are also used, including circular and semi-circular (Mezzelune)
Many claimed origins: possibly from rapa, "vegetable root", or rabibole, "cheap stuff" in Ligurian dialect; or simply from ravolgere, "to wrap".[137][154]
Square sheet of pasta folded into a triangle or discus folded into half-circle, with both extremities subsequently joined to form a ring shape. About 30x35 mm in size. Sweet variations can be found (tortelli cremaschi).[156]
A pasta shell large enough for stuffing[159] (as with meat or cheese). From a southern Italian dialect, plural of tufolo (tube), modification of Latin tubulus (tubule)
Large tube
Maniche, Gigantoni, Occhi di elefante, Elefante, Canneroni grandi, Occhi di bove[9]
^Zanini De Vita, Oretta (2004). La pasta. Atlante dei prodotti tipici. AGRA. p. 195.
^Machado, Amparo; Prete, Chiara (2015). 1001 specialità della cucina italiana da provare almeno una volta nella vita. Newton Compton. p. 87. ISBN978-8854182868.
^Zanini De Vita, Oretta; Fant, Maureen B. (2013). "Pasta". Sauces & Shapes: Pasta the Italian Way. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 357. ISBN978-0-393-08243-2.
^ abAmparo Machado, Chiara Prete (2015). 1001 specialità della cucina italiana da provare almeno una volta nella vita. Newton Compton Editions. ISBN9788854186484.