Types Of Pasta - The Pasta Dictionary

Pasta can look as mundane as long  thin rods or it could be ingenuity  personified looking like stuffed hats,  snails, shells, wheels and even  cock’s comb! There are two basic types of pasta, pastasciutta (dried) and pasta fresca (fresh). What follows is a mini dictionary of names of pastas, with their varied shapes and sizes.

Agnolotti: Or Priest’s cap- Crescent-shaped, meat-filled ravioli.

Anellini: The smallest pasta rings used for soup.

Angel’s hair: The finest of all pasta. Very thin strands also good in soups.

Bucatini: Short, straight macaroni. Long medium tubes used for basic pasta dishes.

Cannelloni: Large, round tubes, for stuffing large tubular noodles. Serve stuffed with cheese and/or meats, cover in sauce and bake.

Creste Di Galle: ‘Cocks’comb’.

Cappelletti: Stuffed ‘hats’.

Conchigle: ‘Conch shells’. Ridged tiny shells the size of lentils.

Cavatelli: Short, crinkle-shaped edged shells.

Eliche: Loose spirals.

Farfelle: ‘Butterflies’, bows.

Fettuccini: ‘Narrow ribbons’ of egg noodles. Medium ribbon.

Fusili: ‘Little sprigs’, spindles or spirals. Long twists.

Gemelli: Two pieces wrapped together to look like twins.

Gigli del gargano: Ruffled-edged, cone-shaped pasta.

Gnocchi: Italian for ‘dumplings’, gnocchi can be made from potatoes, flour, eggs or cheese. They are generally shaped into little balls, cooked in boiling water.

Lasagne: Extra broad noodles, about 2 inches wide, smooth or ripple-edged. Sheets of flat rectangular pasta.

Lumaconi: Big shells often used for fillings.

Linguine: ‘Little tongues’, thick, narrow ribbons, long flat ribbons similar to fettuccini.

Lumache: ‘Snails’, shell-shaped.

Macaroni: An American favourite, small, hollow, tube shaped.

Mafalda: Broad noodles, rippled on both sides, wider than fettuccine.

Maltagliati: Irregularly cut shapes.

Maccheroni: Macaroni of all types: hollow or pierced. Long or short cut tubes, a favourite with cheese sauce.

Orzo: Rice-shaped or barley-shaped pasta.

Orrecchiette: ‘Little ears’, ear-shaped.

Papparadelle: Broad noodles, traditionally served with game sauces.

Penne: ‘Pens’ or quills, tubes cut diagonally at both ends Quill shaped small pasta.

Pansotti: Italian for ‘pot-bellied’, triangular-shaped stuffed pasta with pinked edges.

Quadrettini: Small flat squares.

Ricciolini: Little curls.

Route: Spiked wheels with hubs.

Ravioli: Pasta squares filled with meat, cheese and/or vegetables.

Rigatoni: Large grooved macaroni. Thick-ridged tubes.

Rotelle: ‘Small wheels’.

Spaghetti: Variety of long thin rods, including capellini (very, very thin), spaghettini (thin), and spaghettoni (the thickest). Fine or medium rods.

Stellete: Italian for ‘stars’, stelle is pasta shaped like stars; stellini are little stars.

Tubetti: ‘Small tubes’, hollow.

Tagliarini: Thin ribbons.

Tagliatele: Family of egg noodles similar to fettuccine, broad ribbons.

Tortellini: Small, stuffed pasta similar to cappelletti.

Tripolini: Small bow tie shaped pasta with rounded edges.

Vermicelli: Very fine spaghetti, fine pasta, usually folded into skeins and stuffed/filled.

Ziti: ‘Bridegrooms’, slightly curved large tubes.