![]() ![]() Substitutes: fusilli OR strozzapreti OR gigli OR farfalleĬavatelli Pronunciation: cah-vah-TELL-lee Notes: Cavatelli has two meanings. Substitutes: pasta tubes OR stuffed pasta (These work well in pasta salads.)Ĭasarecci = cesariccia Notes: These are short lengths of rolled and twisted Italian pasta. Many are also sturdy enough to use in pasta salads and baked casseroles. Shapes are easier to eat than rods or ribbons, so they’re a good choice if you’re serving kids or crowds. There are many whimsical pasta shapes that do just that, fashioned after such things as shells, corkscrews, wagon wheels, and radiators. ![]() I’ll be quiet now, but I love all the different pasta shapes you can get!!! You’re quite right that Italians are very particular about which shape they’ll match to which sauce.Spaghetti is fine for smooth tomato sauces, but a chunkier sauce needs a pasta that can trap and hold it as it travels from plate to mouth. There are lots of long pastas too – fusilli lunghi, spaghetti, bucatini (hollow spagetti), tagliatelle, fettucine, vermicelli, pappardelle, capelli d’angelo (angel’s hair). Farfalle ‘butterflies’ and conchiglie (shells) aren’t ones I use much, though they seems popular in the UK. The ones I use most are fusilli and penne, but I’m also partial to chifferi rigati ( )and macaroni sometimes. I think they’re also known as risoni – rice. The ones you call rosmarino I know as ‘orzo’ which is barley in Italian. I think I live off pasta, well, pasta, bread and cheese so I ought to be able to come up with some more! There’s an entire book devoted to the shapes of pasta (no, I don’t own it but I sort of wish I did!) by Jacob Kennedy ( ). In Italian, all pasta type names are plural.ĭo you cook with or know of any interesting pasta varieties? Please let us know if there are any in particular we should look out for! Many other suffixes like -otti (“largish”) and -acci (“rough”, “badly made”) may occur, too. Italian pasta names often end with the masculine plural suffixes -ini, -elli, -illi, -etti or the feminine plurals -ine, -elle etc., all conveying the sense of “little” or with -oni, -one, meaning “large”. Each 500g packet cost just $3 – $4 and is ample to feed the four of us with leftovers.Īnd we haven’t even looked into the matching of pasta to sauce – the Italians are traditionally quite pedantic about this, and the texture, mouthfeel and functionality of the pasta shape is carefully considered before deciding if it is appropriate for the sauce in question.įor my wordsmith friends, here’s a little Wiki trivia: …and finally, our favourite soup pasta, Rosmarino, with the rosemary leaves they’re named after!Įxploring pasta varieties is a very affordable foodie adventure. Fusilli is usually an extruded corkscrew shape, but we quite like the rustic look of these ones…Ĭonchiglioni are large shells designed for stuffing… I was quite taken with these graceful bows and their equally graceful name – Fiocchi D’Amore, or “love flakes”…įusilli are a familiar pasta, and may have been named after the spiral-grooved barrel of a rifle ( fusile), although the term has also come to mean “little spindles” in modern Italian. Lumache, or “snails”, come in a variety of sizes… It was created in honour of Princess Mafalda of Savoy (1902 – 1944), who died quite tragically in a German concentration camp during WWII… This pretty ribbon pasta, designed to accompany delicate sauces, is known as Mafaldine. Such a fabulous name, and guaranteed to appeal to even the fussiest young carnivore… We’ve been cooking this pasta for years, but I’d never paid attention to the writing on the packet before. These simple tubes are known as Occhi di Lupo, or “wolf eyes”. For the history buffs, there’s an interesting article about Strozzapreti here. I’d assumed the name was a humorous take on the clerical collar, but a little research turned up its more sinister connotations, which reflected the strained relationship between the populace of the region and the Catholic church. Strozzapreti, or “priest chokers”, were traditionally made in Romagna and Tuscany. Here are some others we’ve recently discovered… Orecchiette, for example, means “little ear” (although I personally think they resemble turtle shells). These delicious little morsels opened our eyes to both the diverse variety of pasta shapes available and the delightful world of pasta nomenclature. We used to view the sauce as the most important part of the dish, and would buy whatever Italian pasta was on special to accompany it.Īll this changed recently when we purchased our first packet of Orecchiette (pictured above). For a long time, pasta played second fiddle in our house.
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