

Pappardelle comes from the word ‘pappare’ which means to ‘gobble up’, which we totally get, as this wide flat pasta is perfect for big appetites. Try this Walnut and Spinach Pesto Fettuccine. If you come across a green version, it most likely includes spinach, for extra flavour. In fact, there’s very little that this hard-working pasta doesn’t go well with. It is best known enjoyed with a classic Alfredo sauce but actually works well with a beef or chicken ragù too. Fettucineįettucine is a flat, relatively wide noodle, but is wider than tagliatelle. Try this killer Ragù Recipe with your tagliatelle, it’s a winner. Tagliatelle lends itself to rich meaty sauces because the strands help catch all those tasty morsels. It’s slightly skinnier version is tagliolini which has a slightly more cylindrical shape. It is most commonly served with bolognese sauce. Tagliatelle is a flat, medium width noodle, about 6.5 mm to 10 mm wide. This ethereal pasta is delicate and so goes best with other delicate sauces like pestos, light creamy sauces, tomatoes and seafood. This even thinner variant of capellini has a diameter between 0.78 and 0.88 mm and is usually sold in a nest-like shape. It is possible to get confused between Cappellini and spaghetti in pre-cooked form because of their similarities, but sometimes spaghetti can be slightly more rounded.Īs if Cappellini is not skinny enough, you have another option to choose from – capelli d’angelo (angel hair). CappelliniĬappellini is spaghetti’s skinnier cousin, with a diameter between 0.85 mm and 0.92 mm. We love this simple Spaghetti with Traditional Red Sauce. Ironically enough, spaghetti is not only a perfect match for Bolognaise but also light seafood sauces and cream or oil-based ones.
PICTURE SHAPES AND NAMES OF PASTA FULL
To cook the dried version, you’ll need to pop its full length into a pot of boiling water, let the submerged part cook until it’s soft enough to bend and allow the rest of it to fit into the pot. Immortalised in that famous scene from Lady and the Tramp, where a shared strand leads to a romantic kiss, possibly because the average length of spaghetti is around 25-30 cm. Keep this comprehensive visual guide of pasta shapes and names handy as your personal pasta crib sheet.Īh, spaghetti, where would we be without this pantry staple? This long, cylindrical pasta is the base item for a traditional spag-bol - probably one of the most popular pasta dishes around. From the earliest days, until now, many different pasta types have emerged and it can be very tricky to identify one from the other. Pasta remains popular around the world because it’s easy to make, inexpensive and the store-bought version has a long shelf life. It’s safe to say that the Italians have taken the idea and put their stamp on it, with hundreds of varieties and tasty resulting dishes. But as with the history of many food items, this is a popular topic for debate. There is a theory that the Arab invasions of the 9th Century brought a dried noodle-like product, similar to pasta, to the southern parts of Italy.

While it doesn’t have a whole lot of flavour on its own, it’s the perfect carrier for all manner of sauces and is the base ingredient for some of the most popular dishes enjoyed worldwide every day. Pasta must be one of the most versatile and popular food items around.
