Pasta comes in many shapes and sizes, there are hundreds of them… it is a staple dish in Italian cuisine but many other counties make pasta varieties as well.
Quite a few pasta shapes have more than one name depending on the region they were produced.
Below couple of shapes with names that we came across during out ventures, enjoy.
orzo – rice macaroni
recipe suggestion: Orzo with Grilled Tomatoes
filini / cut vermicelli pasta
recipe suggestion: Tomato and Cabbage Soup with Filini Pasta
curly tubes / amori also called cavatappi / corkscrews, spirali, tortiglioni, fusilli rigati
recipe suggestion: Pasta con le Cozze / Pasta with Mussels
cavatappi / corkscrews – a bit differently curled variation of the above pasta
recipe suggestion: Warm Pasta Salad with Sundried Tomatoes, Chestnut Mushrooms & Brie Cheese
conchiglie pasta / shell shaped pasta
recipe suggestion: Kluski z Makiem – Polish Pasta with Poppy Seeds
bear shape pasta
tortellini – Italian filled pasta
recipe suggestion: Roasted Veggetables with Tortellini and Chick Peas
manti – Turkish tortellini
recipe suggestion: Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini on Baked Aubergines with Tomatoes and Pesto
lasagne verdi
recipe suggestion: Tomato & Zucchini Lasagne / Lasagna with Tuna
conchigliette / mini shell shaped pasta
recipe suggestions: Minestrone Soup
wholeweat gnochi / conchiglie pasta
recipe suggestion: Vegetarian Smoky Fajita Pasta Bake
wholemeal animal shaped pasta
recipe suggestion: My Daughter’s Homemade Tomato Sauce
dischi volanti
recipe suggestion: Quick Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms and Roasted Veg Sauce
macaroni
recipe suggestion: Macaroni and Cheese with Petits Pois and Roasted Corn
mafaldine corte / frills
recipe suggestion: Home-made Chunky Basil & Roasted Almond Pesto
rice sticks noodles
recipe suggestion: Coconut & Peanut Butter Stir-fry Sauce
spaghetti macaroni
recipe suggestion: Easy Garlicky Kale Sauce for Pasta
elbows with frills pasta
recipe suggestion: Homemade Coconut, Pepper and Coriander Sauce
lumache pasta
recipe suggestion: Coconut Chicken with Mushrooms and Peppers
penne pasta
recipe suggestion: Cupboard Pasta Salad with Tuna & Pineapple
farfalle pasta
recipe suggestion: Butter Fish & Farfalle Pasta
farfalline pasta
recipe suggestion: Rosół z Kury /Polish Chicken Soup
wholemeal spaghetti
recipe suggestion: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca – Classic Italian Pasta Easy Garlicky Kale Sauce for Pasta
spaghetti lunghi / long spaghetti
recipe suggestion: Smokey Spaghetti Bolognese
black spaghetti
recipe suggestion: Black Pasta Monsters
ditali rigati
recipe suggestion: Spiced Fruit Soup with Roasted Almonds
fusilli pasta
recipe suggestion: Extremely Quick Coconut & Fajita Chicken for Rice or Pasta
tricolore fusilli
recipe suggestion: Pasta in Creamy Tuna Sauce
very curly fusilli
recipe suggestion: Pasta Salad with Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes, Garlic and Cracked Pepper
rigatoni
recipe suggestion: Pasta Salad with Tuna, Mediterranean Veggies and Caribbean Herbs
stellette / mini star shaped pasta
recipe suggestion: Baby Soup with Cauliflower
egg noodles
recipe suggestion: Egg Noodles with Purple Broccoli and Grilled Tofu
NOTES
More shapes coming soon…
Nice noodle post!
These pictures are great! I recently was trying to teach myself what all the different kinds of pasta were, and I wish I had seen this!
When I was a child (a hundred years ago) there was an Italian grocery store on the south side of our little city. It was called
Marachi’s & Ferretti’s. We are located about 100 miles from Chicago
and they received almost daily deliveries.
They had one whole wall of the store, lined from the counter to
the ceiling with oak cabinates each about 12″ wide and 12″ high.
They had glass fronts, and inside each one was a different stlye
of pasta. If you spoke Italian you could ask for your choice, or
you could just point, and the clerk would get you as much as you
wanted. It was my first introduction to real Italian food.
Hillary, I’m glad you like my post :)
Konnie, what a beautiful memory… thank you for sharing them with us!
Wow, great post. Wish I could make homemade jumbo conchiglie.
Very informative post. Thks
When do we get more noodles?