NIBBLE TIP

Beautiful cuts like the creste de gallo, “crest of the rooster” (cockscombs), are conversation pieces as well as delicious and easy-to-make courses.

They require no special sauce, because the pasta itself is the center of attention.

Italians would use butter or garlic and olive oil.

Pick one day each month—the first Monday, e.g., as “specialty pasta night” at your house, and try some of these wonderful cuts.

SARDINIA or SARDEGNA

The second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (Sicily is the largest), Sardinia lies west of Italy and south of Corsica, between Italy, Spain and Tunisia. It is an Italian region with a special autonomous statute. The capital is Cagliari.
 

SAFFRON-FLAVORED PASTA

Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, makes an elegant pasta that pairs wonderfully with shellfish, spicy tomato or light and creamy sauces. Several artisanal pasta-makers offer saffron long cuts; Rustichella d’Abruzzo makes a lovely Saffron Fettuccine that is available online.

Map of Italy highlighting the island of Sardinia, courtesy Wikimedia.

SEMOLINA

Semolina is the coarsely ground and granular endosperm of durum wheat. These round golden kernels are the base of most American, and all Italian, dry pasta. Semolina is granular like sugar, not powdery like most other flours. Homemade fresh pasta is generally not made from semolina, but from general-purpose flour that is lower in gluten. Preparing semolina dough requires industrial mixers or several hours of kneading the granular mass.  As a result, homemade pasta cooks much more quickly, often in half the time, and can overcook easily if the pot is not watched. In general, properly-cooked, top-quality commercial artisan pasta is as good or better than what most people can make at home.

SEME DI MELONE

Seme di melone (SEH-may dee meh-LOE-nay) literally, “melon seeds,” are a small pasta used in soups.

SENATORE CAPELLI

A high-protein variety of durum wheat (seh-nah-TOE-ray cah-PEL-lee). The artisanal Italian producer Latini makes spaghetti and pennette out of this flavorful variety of wheat.


SHORT CUT PASTA, SHORT PASTA CUTS or SHAPED PASTA

Short cut pastas are always dried pastas, since it is not feasible for fresh pasta to hold a shape. They are available in many different sizes and specific shapes: bow ties (farfalle), corkscrews (fusilli), elbows, penne, orechiette, rigatoni, rotelle, rotini shells (conchiglie), and wagon wheels (ruote/rotelle) are a few of the more popular ones. They were created to capture hearty ragùs and chunky vegetable sauces in their hollows and ridges, ensuring both pasta and sauce in each bite. The concept of shaped pasta originated with 13th century German bakers, who made bread dough in symbolic shapes like words, birds, and stars.

SHELLS or CONCHIGLIE

The conch shell is one of the more popular shapes of pasta. Jumbo shells can be stuffed with everything from basic ricotta, luxurious crab or fusion flavors like taco or Thai fillings. Small shells are a perfect everyday pasta for sauce, soups, salads or macaroni and cheese (more charming than elbows).

SOUP PASTA

Various smaller and tiny dried pasta shapes. Some varieties include:

• Alphabets
• Corallini, ditallini and tubettini, tiny
  tube-shaped pasta
• Orzo, a pasta shaped like grains of rice
• Pastina (tiny stars)
• Pearl couscous, small rolled balls of
  semolina

SPACCATELLI

A specially cut long strand tube pasta (pronounced spah-cah-TELL-lee.). The tube is slit from top to bottom.

SPAGHETTI

Spaghetti is the most famous cut of pasta. It is said to be the oldest shape known, and despite fashion for more elegant or unusual shapes, it is still the number one pasta shape in America. Long, thin and round, spaghetti literally means “lengths of cord” (spaghetti is the diminutive of “spago,” meaning cord or string). The thickness of spaghetti varies from region to region (see spaghettini and spaghettoni). A versatile pasta, it can be used in almost any kind of dish and with almost any thickness of sauce. However, it works best with oil- or tomato-based sauces, which are thinner and allow the sauce to cling to the pasta. It is available in plain semolina, colored and flavored with spinach, beets, and bell peppers, and in numerous specialty flavors.

SPAGHETTI or LINGUINI A MATASSA

Specialty nested spaghetti. Rather than purchasing straight “sticks” of pasta, it is dried in attractive coils or figure-eights. (Pronounced ah mah-TASS-uh.) A matassa is a skein of wool.

SPAGHETTI TAGLIATI

Spaghetti tagliati (tahl-YAH-tee) is cut into smaller lengths for soups. While you can purchase it (Barilla makes it, called Cut Spaghetti), home cooks simply break up conventional sticks of spaghetti before cooking.

SPAGHETTI DI NERO DI SEPIA or
SQUID INK PASTA


Pronounced dee NAY-roe dee SAY-pee-ya, black spaghetti is a specialty of the island of Sardinia. The pasta is colored black by squid (cuttlefish) ink, which adds to the texture and flavor. Squid ink pasta has a slightly tangy, briny flavor that pairs best with seafood sauces: a frutti di mare recipe (meaning “fruit of the sea,” an assortment of clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp or simply alle vongole, with fresh clams in a garlic butter sauce. Other pasta shapes are also made with squid ink, but spaghetti is the most frequently found cut. You can buy it online. Some brands don’t use enough squid ink, so even though the pasta is black (some are dark gray), the squid ink flavor doesn’t present itself. If you miss it, keep trying different brands until you find the right one.

SPÄTZLE or SPAETZLE

Pronounced SPEHTZ-sell, spaetzle is German for “little sparrow.” It is a dish of tiny noodles or dumplings made with flour, eggs, water or milk, salt and sometimes a  dash of nutmeg. The spaetzle dough is either rolled and cut into slivers or forced through a sieve or colander with large holes. The small pieces of dough are usually boiled before being tossed with butter or added to soups or other dishes. In Germany, spaetzle is served as a side dish much like potatoes or rice, and is often accompanied by a sauce or gravy.

STROZZAPRETI or STRANGLOLAPRETI

Literally “priest stranglers” or “priest chokers,” this attractive twisted tubular pasta (pronounced STROAH-tsa-PREH-tee) was named centuries ago when it was common practice in Italy to let priests eat for free in restaurants and homes. According to the story, some restaurateurs wished that the “freeloaders” would choke on the pasta course before they could get to the more expensive meat and fish courses. The apocryphal story is that they rolled a shape that might get lodged in the priest’s throat.