10 Types of Pasta

10 Different Types of Pasta Overview

There are many different types of pasta. While each type has identical pasta cooking technique the type of pasta is indicative of each Italian region. Each of the different types of pasta falls into one of the main pasta categories are:

• Short Pasta: Penne pasta and bowtie pastie fall into this category. This is a type of “pasta corta”

• Long Pasta: Spaghetti and Linguine fall into this category. This is a type of “pasta corta”

• Smooth Pasta: This pasta like lasagna noodles has a smooth surface. Sauce slides off this type of pasta easily.

• Pasta Rigata: This pasta has a bit more texture with lines. The ridges hold the sauce when it is applied.

• Egg Pasta: Egg pasta has is made with mixing egg yolk into the flour when creating the pasta dough. This pasta is not vegan like regular pasta.

• Whole Wheat Pasta: Whole-grain pasta contains the bran and germ of the grain, which contribute dietary fiber. You’ll get 6 grams of fiber from a serving of whole-wheat spaghetti.

Long Pasta

1. Spaghetti Pasta

Spaghetti are a long and round pasta. Spaghetti are also the most versatile pasta and can be served solo, with sauce (e.g. spaghetti marinara) or accompanied by a protein like in the spaghetti carbonara.

2. Angel Hair Pasta

Angel hair pasta is a very fine pasta similar to spaghetti in length. This pasta cooks very quickly due to its fine shape.

3. Bucatini Pasta

Bucatini pasta are like spaghetti but they have a hole running down the middle. This makes bucatini pasta ideal for sauces of different types.

4. Fettuccine Pasta

Fettuccine are a flat type of pasta that are wider than spaghetti. Very frequently fettuccine pasta is fresh pasta.

5. Tagliatelle Pasta

Tagliatelle are a traditional type of pasta from the Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. Individual pieces of tagliatelle are long, flat ribbons that are similar in shape to fettuccine and are traditionally about 6 mm wide.

6. Linguine Pasta

Linguine are a long flat pasta similar to spaghetti. This is also versatile pasta and can be served as a lemon sauce linguine, or with seafood as a shrimp linguine recipe .

Short Pasta

1. Penne Pasta

Penne is an extruded type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. Penne pasta can be smooth or they can have ridges to retain more marinara sauce. When penne pasta has ridges the name is penne rigate.

2. Bowtie Pasta

Farfalle are a type of shaped pasta commonly known as bow-tie pasta or butterfly pasta. The name is derived from the Italian word farfalle. In the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, farfalle are known as strichetti. A larger variation of farfalle is known as farfalloni, while the miniature version is called farfalline.

3. Elbow Pasta

Macaroni is dry, tubular pasta shaped like narrow tubes. Made with durum wheat, macaroni is commonly cut in short lengths; curved macaroni may be referred to as elbow macaroni. Some home machines can make macaroni shapes but, like most pasta, macaroni is usually made commercially by large-scale extrusion.

4. Rigatoni Pasta

Rigatoni are a form of tube-shaped pasta of varying lengths and diameters originating in Italy. They are larger than penne and ziti, and sometimes slightly curved. If so, they are not as curved as elbow macaroni.

5. Fusilli Pasta

Fusilli are a variety of pasta that are formed into corkscrew or helical shapes. The word fusilli presumably comes from fuso, as traditionally it is “spun” by pressing and rolling a small rod over the thin strips of pasta to wind them around it in a corkscrew shape.

6. Orecchiette Pasta

Orecchiette are a pasta typical of Apulia, a region of Southern Italy. Their name comes from their shape, which resembles a small ear.