For a long time, pasta played second fiddle in our house.
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.
All this changed recently when we purchased our first packet of Orecchiette (pictured above). These delicious little morsels opened our eyes to both the diverse variety of pasta shapes available and the delightful world of pasta nomenclature. Orecchiette, for example, means “little ear” (although I personally think they resemble turtle shells).
Here are some others we’ve recently discovered…
Strozzapreti, or “priest chokers”, were traditionally made in Romagna and Tuscany. 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. For the history buffs, there’s an interesting article about Strozzapreti here. I love it when food has a story to tell…
These simple tubes are known as Occhi di Lupo, or “wolf eyes”. We’ve been cooking this pasta for years, but I’d never paid attention to the writing on the packet before. Such a fabulous name, and guaranteed to appeal to even the fussiest young carnivore…
This pretty ribbon pasta, designed to accompany delicate sauces, is known as Mafaldine. It was created in honour of Princess Mafalda of Savoy (1902 – 1944), who died quite tragically in a German concentration camp during WWII…
Lumache, or “snails”, come in a variety of sizes…
I was quite taken with these graceful bows and their equally graceful name – Fiocchi D’Amore, or “love flakes”…
Fusilli 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. Fusilli is usually an extruded corkscrew shape, but we quite like the rustic look of these ones…
Conchiglioni are large shells designed for stuffing…
…and finally, our favourite soup pasta, Rosmarino, with the rosemary leaves they’re named after!
Exploring pasta varieties is a very affordable foodie adventure. Each 500g packet cost just $3 – $4 and is ample to feed the four of us with leftovers.
And 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.
For my wordsmith friends, here’s a little Wiki trivia:
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”. Many other suffixes like -otti (“largish”) and -acci (“rough”, “badly made”) may occur, too. In Italian, all pasta type names are plural.
Do 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!
I first found orecchiettewhen Giada Di Laurentiis used it in a lovely dinner for one – http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/orecchiette-with-mixed-greens-and-goat-cheese-recipe/index.html . A tip I learned – before taste testing that the little ears are cooked, make sure there’s no little reservoir of scalding hot water – it forms a perfectly round blister!
Thanks for the tip, Amanda! Looks like a lovely recipe…
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 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Geometry-Pasta-Jacob-Kenedy/dp/0752227378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313850144&sr=1-1) .
The ones you call rosmarino I know as ‘orzo’ which is barley in Italian. I think they’re also known as risoni – rice.
The ones I use most are fusilli and penne, but I’m also partial to chifferi rigati (http://www.dececco.it/EN/Semolina-Pasta/Traditional-range/Short-Shapes/chifferi-rigati-33/?Prodotto=38)and macaroni sometimes. Farfalle ‘butterflies’ and conchiglie (shells) aren’t ones I use much, though they seems popular in the UK.
There are lots of long pastas too – fusilli lunghi, spaghetti, bucatini (hollow spagetti), tagliatelle, fettucine, vermicelli, pappardelle, capelli d’angelo (angel’s hair). 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. I’m less fussy! Which brands are you able to get in Australia? One of my favourites when on offer is De Cecco, and their website is amazing for different shapes available!
Oooh, C, thank you – I’ve not seen the chifferi before, all the rigati I’ve seen here has been smooth rather than textured. Since I wrote this post I’ve found a pasta named and shaped after a radiator (heater), complete with grill!
Thanks for the headsup too on the book – heading off to Amazon now to check it out! :)
I’ve just spotted that on the De Cecco website, if you choose a pasta shape and then scroll down to the bottom of the page it gives links to a few recipes for each shape. Presumably these are chosen to fit the shape of the pasta – food for thought if you want to start matching your pasta to your sauce!
The brands we’ve been been buying are Granoro and Antico Pastificio del Gargano.
http://www.anticopastificio.it/prodotti.php
http://www.granoro.it/en/default.aspx
I usually cook fusilli but it is nice to vary the shape occasionally. It looks as if we use some different names here in the UK – your rosemarino looks like what we call orzo and the spindly fusilli is called trofie, I think.
Suelle, orzo is a nice pasta to cook with, and we use it a lot! The company that made this fusilli make an even spindlier one which they call trofie! :)
Most of the time we’re just using either spaghetti or linguine, but a few that I like are rigatoni (large tubes with ridges to hold the sauce), penne, and farfale (bow ties). The rosmarino you show looks very similar to orzo. Orzo is often mistaken for rice and I use it a lot in soups. Another one I like is pebble pasta and it is like large couscous. Pebble pasta is traditionally used in wedding soup and is hard to get it cooked properly, but if you get it right, the soup is delicious. :)
Cat, is the pebble pasta like the moghrabieh we use? It sounds intriguing! The moghrabieh takes at least 20 minutes to cook through…
It does look like it. :) I have used the large couscous if I didn’t have the pebble pasta without any discernible difference in the soup. The pebble pasta takes about 20 minutes to cook, so I don’t use it very often.
As you can imagine, the types of pasta we can get in Italy is endless. When I go back I’ll try to find some different types for you. It is amazing how much difference the shape makes to a dish. I love your explanations.
Deb, I would dearly love to know more, thank you! I love the naming of the pastas – frankly, it’s all so Italian.. ;-)
My friend Tandy (I think she also follows your blog) has a book entirely dedicated to pasta shapes. I am going to visit her in cape Town next weekend, should I steal the book and mail it to you?
Cindy, you are so sweet, but I couldn’t let you steal something from Tandy for me! :) If it’s the one C mentioned above (Jacob Kenedy, The Geometry of Pasta), I might just have to be ordering it from Amazon soon… ;-)
I love Tandy’s blog, and yours! :)
Oh my goodness, I’m excited! I have my first purchase of orecchiette in the pantry waiting for a delicious sauce (any suggestions?). I found them at a recent trip to an independant Italian grocery store which offered a bountiful array of exciting new shapes!
I like the ribbon pasta you have pictured and would love to give stuffing the conchiglioni a go one day. The girls’ love trying out exciting new pasta shapes!
Chris, yes! We use orecchiette for Jamie Oliver’s broccoli, chilli and anchovy pasta. There’s so many shapes to try! :)
Years ago I had orecchiette at a restaurant as an accompaniment with steak. It is great with a dish that has a sauce. Boil the pasta as usual, drain and dry on paper towels. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute until lightly browned and slightly crunchy!
Christine, I never thought of frying pasta, what a great idea!
I always try to buy the best quality pasta I can but, like you, I have usually just grabbed whatever shape was to hand either in the store or on my pantry shelf. I’m clearly going to have to pay a bit more attention to the facts behind the pasta.
Amanda, it’s really a fun exercise! And it saves a fortune too, compared to feeding those wolves of mine all meat dishes.. ;-)
There are so many pasta’s, but with each region having their traditional pasta dish,and sauce, we from other countries enjoy the versatility and choice of eating them all. Apart from the different grains giving each pasta a different texture…I enjoy bucatini (long,round,centrally perforated) to grab the sauce., flat linguine, pappardelle and chitarra with of course vongole (clams)
Pasta is a wonderful food and I always love trying new sauces.
Orecchiette traditionally eaten in Puglia with broccoli.
Fusilli I love with creamed radicchio and sausage…oh no…this recipe I’m going to have to share with you all.!
Now you’ve got me started on Pasta…x
Yvette, please don’t stop! I’d love to hear more about pasta! I never thought of that – I guess we do get the benefit of all the different regions here. Chitarra is a new one to me, I’ll have to look it up, thank you! :)
I’m crazy about risoni-I had some tonight and ate more than my fair share of it! :D
We eat a lot of small pasta in soup, and lately I’ve been cooking it in the Romertopf as well!
I’m keen to try making Orecchiette one day soon. I’ve never succumbed to buying a pasta machine – we just don’t eat enough pasta for me to justify it – but I think orecchiette might be one that can be made without a machine. Your picture looks so inspiring!
Linda, there are a whole lot of shapes that can be made without a machine. I’ve just tried my first non-egg pasta and was surprised how easy it was! I’d like to try making orecchiette too – Brydie had a post about it here:
I love pasta and could eat it every day. Honestly. (Except for the cheesy ramen cardboard stuff)
My favorite sauce is baking a wheel of gorgonzola in the oven with garlic, salt and pepper and boiling the noodles with spinach, combine and dine. = tasty!
A whole wheel of gorgonzola! Wow…I’d eat that.. :)
I love the romance of the stories behind the names, unfortunately the only pasta I’m intimately acquainted with is the gluten free variety :( San Remo really isn’t bad tasting, but nothing gfree has the same ‘tooth feel’
I’m glad there are some options gfree these days, Becca, and maybe all the shapes will follow? Fingers crossed.. :)
Mr HG loves pasta. I’ve never really been a pasta lover, but they do look amazing. I can’t think of any you’ve missed. And, it’s the sauce that makes the pasta work I reckon. Not the other way round. :)
Oh Anna, there are apparently over 300 different shapes, so I’ve missed heaps! There’s a world of pasta to explore out there.. ;-)
Hi Celia,
I have been following your blog for about a year now and love it. So excited that I can now contribute something. My children and I recently started making our own pasta- so easy and completely delicious. After a little experimentation we have come up with a fool proof recipe- 100g of OO flour to 1 egg (we use 400g and 4 eggs for our family of 5) and 1 added egg yolk. So far we have really only been making lasagna sheets, fettucine and our last try was caramella (italian for lolly- looks like a lolly in a wrapper) filled with ricotta, parmesan and spinach. I have found home made pasta has a much softer texture that doesn’t go soggy or fall apart.
I also love orecchiette but I think my favourite would have to be risoni. I have a great recipe for a roast lamb with risoni and tomatoes. You cook it in the one roasting pan and the pasta soaks up all the lovely juices from the lamb. Delicious.
Hi Sam, thanks for dropping by to leave a comment, it’s lovely to hear from you! :)
Your pasta recipe sounds great, and I have some 00 flour, so we might give it a go, thank you!
There is a fresh pasta brand called Pastabilities (www.pastabilities.com.au) They had a shop at Surry Hills and they used to have the most wonderful dessert ravioli. I think it was filled with apple, currents and cinnamon. I bought it for a dinner party I had about 15 years ago and ran into a friend last week who asked me if I remembered where I got it from. Obviously it made a lasting impression! The cooking instructions that came with it suggested it be fried in oil and served with cream.
Pastabilities – I remember when they first opened! Dessert pasta is something completely new to me, but what a great idea…
Sounds like pasta is popular!! I too love buying different shapes of pasta. This past year I bought cavatappi for the first time and love it for mac ‘n’ cheese. Hubby hates bucatini (hollow spaghetti), but I think its kind of fun. I’ve not tried most of the shapes you’ve shown except for orzo and the shells. My favorite thing to stuff jumbo shells with is a mixture of ground pork, garlic, spinach, nutmeg, and a bit of heavy cream. I’ve been looking for the pasta shape, anellini or ‘small rings’ in Italian but I don’t think I’m going to find it in any store around here, but I keep looking anyway:)
Cavatappi – I’ll look out for it! Wiki tells me it’s named after the Italian word for “corkscrew” (or more directly, “tap extractor”). Anellini I think we’ve cooked with – there was a very similar shape in baby pasta when the boys were toddlers..
Strangely I don’t cook pasta very often but do know there are other shapes – couldn’t tell what they are called though – I am sure when Tandy reads this post she will list them all for you.
:-) Mandy
Thanks Mandy…I’m sure she will too! Hope she reads this soon.. ;-)
Raddiotore- not sure it it is spelled right- but it is a sturdy little pasta that soaks up a lot of sauce into its many little crevices- and orzo are some of my favorite pasta shapes- I love the orzo with browned butter, cinnamon and parsley. It is so different than a heavy sauce and perfect with Italian sausage with wonderful fennel seeds and just a hint of hot peppers.
Great post- I enjoyed the naming of the pastas!
Heidi, I’ve just found the radiator pasta – haven’t tried it yet, but good to know it works, thank you! I’ve been using more cinnamon lately in savoury cooking, and surprised by how well it works!
Oh to have a big kitchen where you could have all those lovely shapes on display in jars. Our all time favourite is fusilli – the corkscrew shape picks up and holds the sauce really well. One of my all time favourites, just for it’s effect, was squid ink (shhhh, I really don’t stray from being vegetarian very often) spaghetti. We served it with a cream sauce and I just loved the contrast between the black and the white.
Choc, the squid ink pasta is delicious, but it’s been out of stock for a little while and I haven’t been able to buy any! I love it distinctly non-vegetarian, with crab or lobster meat! :)
Now that top picture just wants me to head right out to the kitchen and make some orricchette! Celia I’m sure you could make it with your eyes closed :-)
This household is lost without pasta. How to make them all happy?…Cook pasta.
Brydie, I just looked up your old post on making orecchiette – it looks great!
We’ll have to give it a go, thank you!
I remember first encountering orecchiette at Grossi Florentini in Melbourne many years ago. Sam was a toddler and his all time favourite food was broccoli so I ordered the orecchiette with broccoli for him. Sounded too plain for me and something I would never have ordered for myself. But I was totally blown away by how amazing that dish tasted – so simple yet so delicious. I have made it a few times since then, though never as fantastic as the Grossi Florentini version. And must admit too that I can never use the orecchiette for another other than the broccoli/garlic/chilli/olive oil ‘sauce’!
Barillia and San Remo gluten free are our stand-by everyday pastas. I do buy interesting looking pastas in delis etc but often forget to use them and they end up going to the chooks.
Broccoli pasta is a house favourite here! :)
have you seen the book “The Geometry of Pasta” – I just love the different shapes and I really want to get stuck in to making a dish with each shape. Have a great day Celia :)
Tandy, C left me a comment above about it, and I’ve just ordered it! :) You have a great day too!
Aren’t all the different shapes amazing?! I don’t know of any exotic ones but we eat a lot of penne (I wonder what that means), risoni, spaghetti and spirals.
Claire, Wiki tells me that “penne” means “feathers” or “quills”. A popular shape here as well! :)
I love to fry raviolis and them sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper. Such a fun way to eat them.
BTW, I would love to see what you have for a good mac and cheese recipe. That Gorgonzola wheel and pasta sounded interesting. I only want to eat good mac and cheese–it’s not worth wasting calories on the less than really good stuff!!! Thanks.
I have a great mac and cheese recipe using cheddar, gruyere and brie. Make a basic white sauce, stir in 125g of each cheese (grated) and two egg yolks. Beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form and then stir (using a metal spoon) together with 250g cooked macaroni and cheese sauce. Bake for half an hour. Sooo yum!
Sam, that sounds like a mac and cheese souffle! Great stuff, thank you!
Just thought I’d mention that I use raviolis when I make lasagna–adds a lot of flavor to the dish.
Carol, fried ravioli! That’s a clever idea, a bit like fried wontons..
Love the idea of using ravioli in lasagne too – do you still use a meat sauce?
Yes, the lasagna is layered with meat sauce, raviolis and ricotta/spinach/mozzarella/egg mix. Can bake in individual ramekins or a pan. And serve with wine, of course!
We coined the term “pastavore” for our youngest – he will eat anything as long as it is pasta. Potatoes make him gag and he hates chocolate. But give him pasta and just about any thing that goes with and he’s good to go. I’ve made pasta in many shapes and bought pasta in many shapes. Just this week, my husband and I went to Boston (just us – WHOO HOO!) for the first time and the present I brought home was a pound of dried fusilli from an Italian deli in the North End. I cooked it this week and we all agreed it was the best pasta we’ve ever tasted.
Hehehe…it’s very exciting when you get a weekend away without the kids, and I love that you spent part of the time checking out Italian delis! :)
..omg, I love pasta…I could live on pasta…it’s so yum!! Any ideas for a quick ‘n easy beef lasangne?
Lovely blog, so colourful! :)
Hi Mal, thanks for stopping by! :)
I have a friend who makes an easy lasagne by layering pasta sheets, bolognese sauce and a mixture of fresh ricotta and parmesan cheese in place of the white sauce!