Do You Know Your Pasta?

By Michael Russell


Have you ever noticed that when you go out to eat at an Italian restaurant, or even to your favorite grocery store, the choices of pasta is nearly limitless? There is every kind of different shape and size of pasta that you can imagine. Truly, it can be overwhelming at times trying to figure it all out. What are all these different kinds of pasta for? How can you determine what is what? Let's take a closer look at all the various kinds of pasta and what they are used for.

Spaghetti. This is an easy one. It's one food that we all know and love. Spaghetti comes in a box, or a bag, in long thin strands. You cook it in boiling water and mix it into your favorite spaghetti sauce recipe.

Ravioli. Here is another pretty easy one for everybody. Ravioli is a small, square shaped pasta that is stuffed with several different fillings like meat, cheese, mushrooms, sausage, etc. Ravioli can be topped with tomato sauce and can even come toasted.

Macaroni. One of the all-time favorites! Macaroni is a small, hollow tube pasta. It is used mainly in cooking macaroni and cheese.

Cannelloni. Cannelloni is also a hollow tube pasta, but it is much larger than macaroni. Cannelloni is stuffed with different meat sauce mixtures and also will have various cheeses baked in the middle.

Linguine and Fettuccine. These pastas are know as ribbon noodles due to the fact they are long, stringy and flat. They can come in many different lengths. These noodles are a delicious food with creamy sauces mixed onto them such as Alfredo sauce.

Tortellini. Tortellini is yet another type of stuffed pasta. They come in half circle pieces that are folded over and stuffed with meat, cheese, sausage, or other ingredients. You can also pour your favorite sauce over the top of this delicious food.

Vermicelli. Vermicelli is a very fine, thin string of pasta. It is also known as "angel hair" pasta. It can be used with a creamy sauce of your choice, or used with other items such as crab, or shrimp. Many times vermicelli is formed together to form a type of nest that will hold the crab, or shrimp on top of it.

Conghiglie. This pasta is shaped like small shells. There are many different sizes of conghiglie. From tiny pasta shells that are good for using in soups, to larger sizes that can be stuffed. This type of pasta is a favorite food in pasta salads.

Farfalle. Farfalle is a pasta that is bow shaped and also used mainly in different pasta salads.

Fusilli. Fusilli is a thin spiral shaped pasta that is good in pasta salads. It is also good with different styles of sauces.

Lasagna. Lasagna is perhaps the best of all the different pastas. These are long, wide strips of pasta that are layered with fillings between them. These fillings can include meat, sausage, cheese, mushrooms and about anything else you can think of. More cheese is piled on top and then baked in the oven.

This list should help you the next time you see a pasta that you're unfamiliar with. No matter what shape or size, pasta is a favorite on everyone's list of great tasting foods!

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Food

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Pasta Variety

By Jonathon Hardcastle

Pasta has to be Italy's greatest contribution to world cuisine. Most people usually associate pasta with noodles, but pasta actually refers to a wide assortment of flour and grain concoctions that come in a variety of shapes. Macaroni is one such pasta that is not in noodle form. The word pasta comes from the Italian word for paste or dough.

Pasta also refers to dishes that have pasta as the main ingredient and which are usually spruced up with sauce or a type of seasoning.

There are two ways to cook pasta- by extrusion and by lamination. Extrusion mashes the ingredients through a die, which is a plate with holes. Lamination calls for the dough to be kneaded and folded, later rolled to achieve a thick mixture before it is cut with the use of slitters. Fresh pasta is easy to cook and is ready quickly but it spoils easily as well since its content is mostly water. Dry pasta lasts longer because it has only around 10% moisture.

There are now Italian pastas as well as American pastas. The Italian pasta, which has a yellow color and a chewy texture, comes from durum wheat semolina. American pastas are made from farina and semolina, with a texture and flavor that are inferior to Italian pastas and are used mostly in casseroles. There are also Asian noodles, which are thinner than pasta and come from wheat flour.

The most popular pastas are certainly the noodle-type pastas such as spaghetti and vemicelli. Macaroni is the most popular short tube pasta, followed by penne. Fettucine and linguine are pasta that are shaped like ribbons. There is also pasta made from tiny grains such as couscous and orzo as well as pasta made from large sheets like lasagna. Ravioli, tortellini and manicotti are an entirely different pasta group, as they are hollow pasta that is filled with stuffing.

Here's a little known fact about pasta. Did you know that it was Thomas Jefferson who first brought macaroni to America? Upon returning to the US in 1789 after a stint as the ambassador to France, Jefferson brought with him a macaroni machine, which was the first such recorded contraption in the United States.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Cooking, Home Improvement, and Outdoors

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Pasta Shapes Chart

Source: CNN.Com

PASTA SHAPES & SIZES
Long, straight pasta noodles
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Capellini (Angel hair)	Long, rounded, very thin	Hot	With light sauces, or tossed with olive oil and fresh steamed vegetables
Vermicelli	Long, rounded, thinner than spaghetti	Hot, can be used cold	With light sauces, or tossed in pasta salads
Linguine	Long, flat, narrow	Hot	Large enough to hold slightly thicker sauces, for example a marinara sauce
Spaghetti	Long, rounded, average thickness	Hot	With tomato-based sauces or baked in casseroles
Fettuccine	Long, flat, wider than linguine	Hot	Thick sauces, especially creamy sauces
Lasagna	Long, very wide, may be flat-edged or have curled edges	Hot	Baked, in lasagna and other casserole-type dishes
Curly pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Rotini (Spirals)	Fairly short spirals	Hot or cold	With thick/chunky sauces or in pasta salads
Fusilli	Long, corkscrew-shaped spaghetti	Hot or cold	Very versatile, good with most sauces, in soup or in pasta salad,
Tagliatelle (Egg noodles)	Same width as fettuccine or linguine, but not flattened	Hot	Baked dishes, soups, stroganoff
Tubular pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Ditalini	Small, very short tubes	Hot or cold	Soups or pasta salads
Elbow macaroni	Curved tubes	Hot or cold	Baked dishes, or in pasta salad
Perciatelli (Long macaroni)	Long, thin, straight tubes	Hot	Use in place of spaghetti
Ziti	Slightly curved tubes, wider and longer than elbow macaroni	Hot or cold	Baked, in pasta salads, with thick sauces
Penne	Straight, medium-length tubes, often ridged instead of smooth, cut on diagonal	Hot	In soups, baked, with a wide variety of sauces
Rigatoni	Straight, short tubes, wider than penne, also ridged	Hot	Variety of sauces; ridges hold thick or creamy sauces well
Cannelloni	Large, long tubes	Hot	Stuffed
Manicotti	Longer and wider than penne, may be ridged	Hot	Stuffed
Other shapes
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Alphabets	Letters of the alphabet	Hot	In soups
Anelli (rings)	Small, O-shaped	Hot	In soups
Bow Tie Pasta	Squares pinched in the middle to form bow-ties	Hot	In soups and with grains, like buckwheat, in side dishes
Conchiglie (Shells)	Shells with one long, narrow opening	Hot or cold	In soups, baked, in pasta salads
Conchiglioni (Jumbo shells)	Like regular shells, but much larger	Hot	Stuffed
Orzo	Size and shape of grains or cooked rice	Hot	As side dish
Radiatore (Radiators)	Ruffled and ridged, like a radiator	Hot; can be used cold	With thick or creamy sauces, in soups, in salad
Ruote (Wheels)	Wagon wheels	Hot	In soups, casseroles, with thick sauces
Filled pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Agnolotti	Small, crescent-shaped, may be filled with a variety of meats or cheeses	Hot	With variety of sauces
Gnocchi	Dumplings, may have cheese, potatoes or spinach in dough	Hot	As side dish
Tortellini	Small, filled, ring-shaped pasta	Hot	Good with a variety of thick or creamy sauces
Ravioli	Usually round, with cheese or beef filling	Hot	Baked or boiled, with thick sauces

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Introduction to pasta

Pasta originates from the Italian word for paste. Pasta is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. Pasta made of whole wheat contains more dietary fiber. Most commercially made pastas available on the shelves of stores are prepared from semolina paste. Pasta is an affordable and nutritious base for a good meal - combine it with vegetables, meat, nuts or legumes and you have a great dish going. You can make the pasta dish even more nutritious by adding spinach or asparagus and beans. Italian pasta is a wonderful source of complex carbohydrates.

Type of pasta
Here is a complete guide to choosing between different types of pasta. Find out the difference between fresh and dried pasta. Dried pasta that is commercially available is available in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Dried pasta is convenient since it keeps for a long time if stored correctly and holds it shape better than fresh pasta. This makes it ideal for heavy sauces. Fresh pasta, as the name suggests, is more tender and chewy since it is not completely dried. Fresh pasta is generally available as ribbons and can be stored for about 5 days in the refrigerator. Fresh pasta goes best with light and delicate sauces since it is highly absorbent.

Pasta comes in various shapes, some of which are a specialty of a particular region or town of Italy. Some fancy pasta makers come up with special shapes. Dried pasta is either made with durum wheat flour (di semola di grano duro) or eggs, flour and salt (pasta all'uovo). Exotically shaped pasta is extruded through dies that give them a unique shape. A popular type of pasta is the long strand variety. You can opt for Spagettti or Spaghetteni or Bucatini. Cylinder shaped pasta is often used in soups and baked dishes. Strips of pasta such as Fettuccine, Tagliatelle and Linguine are used along with tasty sauces made of tomato-mackerel or smoked salmon or creamy mascarpone sauce. Sheet pasta is used in baked dishes. You can get them as lasagna sheets or cannelloni. Snail shell and spiral shaped pasta can help add an extra zing your salad or pasta pot dish. You can go in for tiny bits of pasta to garnish your soup - tiny stars, teddy bear shapes, little seed shapes. Hot peppers, mushrooms, saffron, lemon, garlic and other herbs or spices are popularly used to lend flavors to pasta. Pasta made with eggs has more flavor and is brighter yellow in color.

Tips on selecting good pasta

• Good quality pasta does not stick together. It must have a consistent look with a bright amber color. Pasta that clumps together is not right for your dish.
  
• A subtle nutty flavor is a hallmark of good quality pasta.
  
• Pasta that is not limp but has a bouncy springy feel to it is good pasta that will blend well with various sauces.

Source: Targetwoman.com

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