Pasta Shapes | Share the Pasta (2024)

FAQs

What are the 25 common pasta shapes? ›

The earliest pasta shape was a simple sheet, which was treated more like bread dough. It probably didn't have the toothsome quality – known as “al dente” – associated with Italian pasta today, and would have been similar to unleavened matzo bread with sauce on it.

Spaghetti. SHAPE: Long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta. It's the most popular in the U.S. and the best-known pasta shape. SERVED: Spaghetti has a lot of versatility and mixes with a variety of sauces.

Pastina ( lit. 'little pasta') is a variety of pasta consisting of tiny pieces, typically of a round (irregular) shape with a diameter of about 1.6 millimetres (1/16"). It is the smallest type of pasta produced.

There are over 600 different pasta shapes, each with a useful purpose. Long pasta, short pasta, stuffed pasta, pasta for soups- the uses for pasta are endless! Some pasta shapes and sizes are better suited for holding sauces in the ridges, while others are much better for baked dishes.

There are four classic Roman pasta dishes: cacio e pepe, carbonara, amatriciana, and alla gricia.

Su filindeu, or "threads of God," is the rarest pasta in the world. For a century, it was made by a single family in the Sardinian city of Nuoro for religious celebrations. Today, there are fewer than 10 people there who know the secret to making the pasta as thin as a strand of hair.

The roughly 350 different types of pasta can be broadly sorted into four categories: Long: Tagliatelle, linguine, angel hair, fettuccine, capellini, etc. Short: Cavatappi, conchiglie, festoni, farfalle, fusilli, gnocchi, etc.

Many pasta cuts originated regionally and, often, many cuts were being produced in several regions but were known under separate names. Due to pasta's widespread popularity and numerous producers, there are now over 300 shapes available today.

Spaghetti means "little twine," and variations include spaghettini (thinner), spaghettoni (thicker), bucatini (thicker and straw-like, with a hollow center), capellini (very thin) and angel's hair (thinnest).

What are spiral noodles called? ›

Rotini or Fusilli. Rotini and fusilli both describe the same spiral-shaped noodle. They look like little corkscrews and are loads of fun to bite into, especially for little kids that like to eat with their hands. This richly textured pasta works wonderfully in the recipe for Tuna, Tomato and Mozzarella Bake.

There are approximately 350 different types of pasta around the world — and about four times that many names for them! For example, due to its shape, farfalle pasta is often called “butterfly" or “bowtie" pasta.

Bucatini is a long pasta that is similar to tonnarelli. The difference between bucatini and other long pasta shapes, such as tonnarelli, is that bucatini has a hollow center. Buco translates to “hole” in Italian. While tonnarelli is best paired with creamy sauces, tomato-based sauces work best with bucatini.