There are around 200 different pasta shapes and it can be difficult to know which one to choose.
The sheer variety of pasta shapes available can be confusing. What do the names mean? What will you get if you order tagliolini – long ribbons or short quills? And do certain pasta shapes go with certain sauces?
Well, here’s a quick guide to some of the best known Italian pasta shapes.
Long Pasta
Long pasta varieties are considered ideal for dishes made with olive oil (such as pesto), as well as classic tomato sauces.
Best known in this category is spaghetti – long, thin strands of pasta. You might also find spaghettini, which is even thinner, or the very fine strands known as vermicelli (‘little worms’) or even capelli d’angelo (which means 'angel’s hair').
Flat ribbons of pasta include linguine (the name means ‘little tongues’), fettucine, and tagliatelle (slightly broader than fettucine and considered the best pasta for a Bolognese meat sauce). Trenette looks much like fettucine and is found in Genoa. You’ll often find dried fettucine and tagliatelle sold in nests, like noodles. The widest ribbon pasta is pappardelle, which is very common in Bologna and, because it’s thick and substantial, is suitable for heavier sauces made with meat: hare or rabbit sauce is common.
These varieties of pasta are often flavoured: green strands are made with spinach, light red ones with tomato, brownish strands with mushrooms, and black ones with squid ink.
You might also find bucatini – long tubes of pasta (hollow in the middle, so they soak up more sauce).
Sheet pasta
Lasagne is the name given to rectangular sheets of pasta, which are layered with meaty or vegetable sauces and baked in the oven - ‘al forno’.
Cannelloni are also used in baked dishes. They’re large, hollow tubes that can be stuffed with meaty sauces, or ricotta and spinach.
Filled pasta
These are essentially little parcels of pasta, ready stuffed with fillings such as spinach and ricotta, pumpkin, mushrooms or meat. They can be served – depending on the filling and your preference - with a drizzle of good olive oil and freshly grated parmesan, or a tomato sauce.
Pasta parcels to look out for are ravioli, agnolotti, cappelletti, tortelli and tortellini.
Short pasta
These are probably the most versatile varieties of pasta. Penne ('quills') are short, straight tubes of pasta, while rigatoni look similar but are thicker so can absorb more sauce in the hollow centre. Short curved tubes are macaroni.
Conchiglie also have a hollow centre – the name means ‘shells’. They’re good for meaty or thick sauces as the sauce can get trapped in the hollow. Lumache are very similar – the name means 'snails', referring to a snail’s shell.
If you like pasta twists, then it’s fusilli you should look out for – or, in Liguria, trofie.
Farfalle are bows and orrecchiette are ‘ears’.
Tiny pasta shapes are often used in soups. Look out for anellini or ditalini.
There are around 200 different pasta shapes altogether. Plenty to choose from.
