My mother worked for years in the office at Louise’s Ravioli in Revere. Ditali is commonly used in soups as well as pasta salads. It’s a type of pasta that can only usually be found in Trapani, which is an area in Western Sicily. Fettuccine is used in all kinds of culinary applications, here’s a fettuccine pasta recipe with cherry tomatoes and bell peppers, but is most commonly known outside of Italy for its use with creamy Alfredo sauce. Raviolis are typically square or circular and stuffed with meat, cheese, or vegetables. They are often found filled with spinach and ricotta and finished off in a pan with melted butter and sage leaves after boiling. This small, seashell-shaped pasta originates from Italy, and is one of the most popular pasta shapes in the region because it is specifically designed to hold more sauce. Common to the Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, Marche, and Tuscany regions of Italy, strozzapreti is a hand-rolled pasta that is similar to cavatelli due to its hot dog-bun shape, but it is slightly more elongated, and features a light twist. It pairs particularly well with meat and vegetable dishes. Originally hailing from Naples, ditalini literally means “small thimbles” in Italian, and it’s easy to see why when you look at the shape of this pasta. This thick, ring-shaped pasta hails from Naples, and is commonly confused with calamari rings due to its similar appearance. When many of us think of pasta, we typically think of the more popular styles such as spaghetti, penne or linguine, but there are actually dozens of different types of pasta, each with their own special flavor profile, culinary application and even regional origin. Because of their unique shapes, most short types of pasta are made with an extruder machine that cuts the shapes with a mold. Cavatelli is named for the Italian verb cavare, which means “to hollow out or carve,” and that’s exactly what this pasta of southern Italian origin looks like–a small, hollowed-out shell, similar to a hot dog bun. Hailing from Liguria in northern Italy, trofie is a thin, short, twisted pasta that is typically rolled by hand into interesting squiggly shapes. Radiatori is a small pasta with textured, wavy lines that make it look like a radiator. Its cooking time is around 2 to 4 minutes and is often sold in coils that look like bird’s nest. With a centuries-old history rooted in Italy, canule is a long, somewhat thin corkscrew-shaped pasta that is perfect for serving with thin or thick sauces. Your info on penne rotate is inaccurate. Many archaeologists also believe that the earliest types of pasta or noodles were actually created in Central Asia, thousands of years before Marco Polo ever came to the region. It is often used for soups and seafood dishes, or with light sauces. Gotta save this list…. Now if only we had taste-a-vision capability…, Thank you! On Quick Navigation Menu: More of a glimpse into his soul than a recipe book, it reveals more about the man than the chef. Chef Bruce – honored for your comment sir, grazie mille! These round, dome-like pasta shells are thinner in the center than they are on the edges, which gives them an unusual texture. The pasta aisle is packed with so many options, and believe it or not, the shape really does matter sometimes: Certain pasta shapes are better for certain types of sauce. As someone who has been making pasta just a short time 45 years, pasta should always be made from the heart, with love in the hands and a smile on the face. Pasta can be divided into two categories: dry (commercial) pasta or homemade pasta. For many, this is how pasta in Italy came to be. Inspector Montalbano eats a dish called burning pircati in The Smell of the Night (L’odore della notte). This pasta comes in the form of long, broad ribbons that are the perfect canvas for rich, meaty ragù sauces.