Tip of the Day: Pasta Pasta Pasta!!!

Alfabeto: letter shapped pasta, generally used in soup

Acini Di Pepe: Peppercorn shapped pasta, generally used in soup

Anelli: ring shaped pasta, used for soups and salads

Angel Hair: thinest of all pasta, long, fine, round strands.

Bucatini: looks like spaghetti however it is hollow and is thicker then spaghetti.

Capellini: is often confused for angel hair, however it is slightly thicker.

Cavatelli: short shaped pasta that resembles hot dog buns, used in thick chunky sacues

Cocciolette, Conchigliette and Conchiglioni: refers to the different sized shell shapped pasta. The smaller ones are great for salads, mac and cheese or chuncy sauces. The jumbo shells are used primarily for making the dish known as stuffed shells.

Couscous: yes it really is a pasta. It's made by rolling moistened semolina wheat and then coating the granules in a finely ground wheat flour. It's usually served under stews or as a side dish.

Ditalini: "little thimbles" are tiny, shot cut tubes and is what you find is Pasta E Fagioli and minestrone soups

Farfalle: bowtie shaped pasta is great in salads, casseroles and sauces.

Fettuccine: long, flat cut pasta, great for thinner sauces such as alfredo

Fusilli: longer cork-screw shapped pasta used in salads and sauces, espeically cheese sauces.

Galletti: "cocks' combs" are simicircular, tube shaped pasta with a ruffled edge.

Gemelli: meaning twins is two short strands of pasta twisted together, because of this they retain and al dente texture making them versatile. 

Gnocchi: is a dumpling made of flour and potatoes that are then boiled or baked and served with butter and grated parmesan cheese.

Lasagne: Long, flat and wide used for making Lasagna

Linguine (Linguini): flattened spaghetti, that is narrower then fettuccine

Macaroni: Hollow, elbow shaped pasta, commonly used in salad and sauces

Manicotti: large tube shaped pasta that is about 4 inches long and 1 inch in diameter

Mostaccioli: Similar to penne, it's 2 inches long and cut on the diagonal.

Orecchieette: "ear" shaped pasta used in salads and sauces

Orzo: rice shaped pasta, used with thin sauces or soups

Penne: tubular, slanted cut pasta used in several dishes

Penne Rigate: penne pasta with ridges

Ravioli: filled square shaped pasta of different sizes

Rigatoni: hollow tube shaped pasta with ridges that are straight cut

Rotini: another spiral shaped pasta and is shorter then fusilli

Ruote: wagon wheel shaped pasta used in soups

Spaghetti: medium diameter, long cut pasta

Stellette: tiny start shaped pasta used in soups

Tagliati: spaghetti cut into smaller pices for soups

Tagliatelle: classic egg noodle that is thin long and flat

Tortellini: "belly button" shaped filled pasta

Vermicelli: thinner then spaghetti but thicker then angel hair, means little worms and is used just like spaghetti. Can also be referring to angel hair "nests"

Ziti: long cut, tubular, hollow pasta used for making Ziti

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!