Pasta

The English word pasta generally refers to noodles and other food products made from a flour and water paste, often including also egg and salt. Less frequently, the term macaroni is used for the same products.

Pasta varieties

While the only basic difference between these names is the shape of the pasta, each pasta is typically matched with a particular sauce based on cooking time, consistency, ability to hold sauce, ease of eating etc. In the same way that you wouldn't put a hamburger inside a hotdog bun, likewise, you wouldn't make pasta amatriciana, for example, with angel hair spaghetti, but with bucatini. Some pasta varieties are uniquely regional and not diffused throughout Italy. The most common varieties are in bold.

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Shaped pasta

• Campanelle - small cones (from the Italian for "bell")
• Casarecci - short lengths rolled into an "S"
• Cavatelli - sea shell shaped with rolled edges
• Conchiglie - sea shell shaped
• Conchiglioni - large stuffable sea shell shaped
• Creste di galli - short curved and ruffled
• Farfalle - bow tie or butterfly shaped Image
• Farfallone - larger bow ties
• Fiori - shaped like a flower
• Fusilli - short lengths of twisted pasta
• Fusilli Bucati - a more spring shaped variety
• Gemelli - two short stands of pasta twisted together
• Gigli - cone or flower shaped
• Gramigna - short curled lengths of pasta
• Lumache - snail shaped
• Lumaconi - jumbo Lumache
• Maltagliati - flat roughly cut triangles
• Orecchiette - bowl or ear shaped pasta
• Pipe - larger versions of macaroni
• Quadrefiore - square with rippled edges
• Radiatori - shaped like radiators
• Ricciolini - short wide noodles with a 90-degree twist
• Rotelle - wagon wheel shaped pasta
• Rotini - pasta twisted into a spiral
• Spiralini - more tightly-coiled fusilli
• Strozzapreti - rolled across their width
• Torchio - torch shaped
• Trofie - thin twisted pasta

Tubular pasta

• Bucatini - hollow spaghetti
• Calamarata - wide ring shaped pasta
• Calamaretti - smaller Calamarata
• Cannelloni - large stuffable tubes
• Cavatappi - "S" shaped macaroni
• Cellentani - corkscrew shaped tube
• Chifferi - short and wide macaroni
• Ditalini - short tubes; like elbows but shorter and without a bend
• Elbow macaroni - bent tubes
• Elicoidali - slightly ribbed tube pasta
• Fagioloni - short narrow tube
• Garganelli - square egg noodle rolled into a tube
• Gomiti - wide "C" shaped pasta
• Macaroni - any narrow tube pasta
• Maccheroni - longer macaroni
• Maccheroncelli - hollow pencil shaped pasta
• Maltagliati - short wide pasta with diagonally cut ends
• Manicotti - large stuffable ridged tubes
• Mezzani - short curved tube
• Mezze Penne - short version of penne
• Mezzi Bombardoni - wide short tubes
• Mezzi Paccheri - shorter version of paccheri
• Mostaccioli - longer version of penne
• Paccheri - large tube
• Pasta al ceppo - shaped like a cinnamon stick
• Penne - medium length tubes with diagonally cut ends
• Penne rigate - penne with ridged sides
• Penne Zita - wider version of penne
• Pennette - short thin version of penne
• Pennoni - wider version of penne
• Perciatelli - thicker bucatini
• Rigatoncini - smaller version of rigatoni
• Rigatoni - large and slightly curved tube
• Sagne Incannulate - long tube formed of twisted ribbon
• Trenne - penne shaped as a triangle
• Trennette - smaller version of trenne
• Tortiglioni - narrower rigatoni
• Tuffoli - ridged rigatoni
• Ziti - long narrow hose like tubes
• Zitoni - wider version of Ziti

Strand noodles

• Angel Hair - thicker than capellini
• Barbina - thin strands often coiled into nests
• Capellini - even thinner than angel hair; thinnest spaghetti-like noodle
• Chitarra - similar to spaghetti, except square rather than round
• Ciriole - thicker version of chitarra
• Fedelini - thinner than spaghettini
• Fusilli lunghi - very long fusilli
• Pici - very thick, found in Tuscany
• Spaghetti - long, round, and thin. Thicker than spaghettini
• Spaghettini - thinner than spaghetti, thicker than fedelini
• Strangozzi - square in cross section
• Vermicelli - thinner or thicker (in Italy) than spaghetti

Ribbon pasta noodles

• Bavette - narrower version of tagliatelle
• Bavettine - narrower version of bavette
• Fettuce - wider version of fettuccine
• Fettuccine - ribbon of pasta approximately one centimeter wide
• Fettucelle - narrower version of fettucine
• Lasagne - very wide noodles that often have ridged sides
• Lasagnette - narrower version of lasagna
• Lasagnotte - longer version of lasagna
• Linguettine - narrower version of linguine
• Linguine - flattened spaghetti
• Mafalde - short rectangular ribbons
• Mafaldine - long ribbons with ruffled sides
• Pappardelle - thick flat ribbon
• Pillus - very thin ribbons
• Pizzoccheri - ribbon pasta made from buckwheat
• Reginette wide ribbon with rippled edges
• Sagnarelli - rectangular ribbons with fluted edges
• Stringozzi - similar to shoelaces
• Tagliatelle - ribbon fairly thinner than fettuccine
• Taglierini - thinner version of Tagliatelle
• Trenette - thin ribbon ridged on one side
• Tripoline - thick ribbon ridged on one side

Micro pasta

• Acini di pepe - small spheres of pasta
• Alphabets - pasta shaped as letters of the alphabet
• Anelli - small rings of pasta
• Anellini - smaller version of anelli
• Chilopitta - a squared-shaped pasta
• Conchigliette - small shell shaped pasta
• Corallini - small short tubes of pasta
• Couscous - small granular pasta
• Ditali - small short tubes
• Ditalini - smaller versions of ditali
• Farfalline - small bow tie shaped pasta
• Fideos - short thin noodles
• Filini - smaller version of fideos
• Funghini - small mushroom shaped pasta
• Occhi di pernice - very small rings of pasta
• Orzo - small rice shaped pasta
• Pastina - small spheres about the same size or smaller than acini di pepe
• Pearl Pasta - spheres slightly larger than acini di pepe
• Quadrettini - small flat squares of pasta
• Risi - smaller version of orzo
• Seme di melone - small seed shaped pasta
• Stelle - small star shaped pasta
• Stelline - smaller version of stelle
• Stortini - smaller version of elbow macaroni
• Trachana - star shaped pasta
• Tubetti - longer version of ditali
• Tubettini - smaller version tubetti

Stuffed pasta

• Ravioli
• Tortellini and Tortelloni
• Sacchettini

Commercial pasta

• Kraft Dinner
• SpaghettiO's