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Pasta Glossary

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If you enjoy this Pasta Glossary, we have a food glossary for almost every category of food.

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PACCHERI and MEZZIPACCHIERI

A large, unridged rigatoni-style tubular pasta (pah-CARE-ee). An unusual cut, typically made only in the area around Naples, that goes with everything from cream sauces to chunky vegetables sauces. It can be cooked at the same time with calamari to make a single dish. Mezzipacchieri are half the length.

PAGLIA E FIENO

Paglia e fieno (PAHL-ya eh FYAY-no) is Italian for “straw and hay,” a pasta dish made of yellow tagliatelle (egg noodles), the straw, and green tagliatelle, the hay (colored by adding spinach to the dough). It can be served with any sauce, but is often served with a cream or tomato sauce.
Photo of paglia e fieno courtesy of SXC.

PAPPARDELLE

The classic broad egg noodle (about 3/4" wide), originally from Tuscany. Pappardelle (pah-pahr-DELL-lay) are most commonly served with meat sauces, especially those from game meats like hare or wild boar.
Photo of pappardelle courtesy of SXC.

PANSOTTI

Pansotti (pon-SUH-tee) are triangular-shaped ravioli, generally found with crimped edges. The word is Italian for “pot-bellied.”
Photo of Nuovo Pasta pansotti. Read our review of Nuovo Pasta, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

PASTA

The Italian word for noodles. Like the German word nudel, it means paste: Pasta is made from a paste of flour and water. Italian-style pasta is made specifically from durum wheat plus water, salt and sometimes eggs (pasta all’uovo, egg noodles). The term refers to all shapes of pasta, from long cuts like spaghetti, shaped pasta like fusilli (corkscrews), stuffed pasta like ravioli and tubular pasta like penne. Pastas are eaten plain, with sauce, in soups and in casseroles. See also Noodles. A half-cup serving of cooked semolina pasta contains one gram of fat, 106 calories, five milligrams of sodium, protein and nutrients including B-vitamins and iron.

PASTA ALL’UOVO

See Egg Pasta.

PASTA CARBONARA

See Carbonara.

PASTA DI SEMOLA DI GRANO DURO

Literally, pasta from durham wheat grain. One of two categories of Italian commercial pasta (American classifications echo the Italian), made only with semolina, water and salt. The other category, pasta all’uovo or egg pasta, adds eggs. For the most part, egg pastas are flat ribbons of varying width, from thin linguini to broad lasagna; whereas regular pasta comes in all shapes and sizes, including specialty pastas and buckwheat pastas.

PASTA E FAGIOLI

Cannellini bean soup with ditalini pasta, celery, carrots and tomatoes (PAH-sta eh fah-JOE-lee). In Sicilian American dialect, this dish sounds like “pasta fazool,” a corruption of the Sicilian pronunciation, fah-JOLE. The bean, cannellini, should not be confused with the pasta, cannelloni.

PASTA REGIONALE

A curl-shaped pasta (PAH-sta REH-joe-NAH-lay—photo at left).

PASTA SHELLS

See Conchiglie.

PASTIFICIO

A pasta maker, whether an individual or a factory (pah-stih-FEE-tsee-oh).

PASTINA

Tiny pasta stars, the smallest pasta shape made (the name means “little pasta” or “little dough”). It is often served in broth or soup, and generally a child’s first introduction to pasta. However, it can be used in sophisticated recipes, such as timbales and to stuff baby pumpkins. It is available in regular wheat and egg varieties. Pronounced pah-STEE-nah.
Photo of Ronzoni pastina.

PENNE

Penne (PEN-nay) is one of the most famous and popular pasta shapes, a specialty of the Campania region in southern Italy. The Italian word for “quills” or feather pens, penne are large (2-inch), straight tubes cut on the diagonal, to resemble the point of a quill. They can be ridged (rigate) to better hold the sauce (see photo at the top of the page). Penne is one of the most versatile cuts: It compliments most types of sauce, both creamy and heavy, plus oven-baked (al forno) dishes. Penne all’Arrabbiata, with a spicy tomato sauce that includes a garlic, basil and a hot chile pepper, is a classic dish. (Arrabbiata means “angry” in Italian.)
Photo of penne courtesy of SXC.

PENNE RIGATE

Penne with ridges (PEN-nay rih-GAH-tay—see photo above). This shape is an excellent sauce-grabber. The hollows of the pasta hold the sauce on the inside and the ridges hold it on the outside.

PENNETTE

Small penne pasta (pen-NEH-teh).
Photo of pennette courtesy of SXC.

PENNONI

Literally, “big quills” and “big penne”: penne means “quills” and oni means “big.” The ends of this tubular pasta are cut at an angle to look like quill pens.

PERCIATELLI

A thick strand pasta like bucatini, perciatelli (pehr-cha-TELL-lee) are fat, hollow strands of pasta. The name comes from a southern Italian dialect word, “perciato,” meaning “pierced through.” A hearty pasta, it is typically served with creamy sauces, lighter tomato sauces, or simply tossed with olive oil.

PESTO SAUCE

Pesto, one of the most famous Italian sauces, is made of basil, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino cheeses, olive oil, pine nuts and salt as needed. It is traditionally ground with a mortar and pestle. The word pesto is the past participle of the Italian word for “to pound or crush.” The sauce originated in Genoa, and is known as pesto alla genovese. Other pestos are made with spinach or arugula instead of the basil, walnuts or other nuts instead of the pine nuts, etc. Read more in our article on pesto sauce.

PEZZOCCHERI

Buckwheat pasta, a specialty of the Valtelline Valley in the north of Lombardy, bordering Switzerland. Traditionally a winter dish, it is served with cabbage and potatoes, seasoned with garlic and baked with cheese.

PIEROGI or PEROGI

Half-moon-shaped noodle dumplings that look like Italian agnolotti, these Polish and Russian noodle dumplings are filled variously with minced meat, cheese, mushrooms, cabbage, potatoes or rice. First boiled, they then can be sautéed in butter and topped with toasted breadcrumbs. They are served as a first course or a side dish.
Pierogies from AlfonsoGourmetPasta.com.

POTSTICKERS

Crescent-shaped stuffed Asian dumplings, variously stuffed with meat, seafood or vegetables.
Potstickers from AlfonsoGourmetPasta.com.

PUGLIA

A region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion, a peninsula known as Salento, is the heel of the “boot” of Italy. The capital is Bari, and other provinces are Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto.
Map of Puglia courtesy of Wikipedia.

PUNTALETTE

Similar to orzo, puntalette (poon-tah-LEH-tay) are rice-shaped pasta used for soups.

QUADRUCCI

A category of pasta in the shape of a tube. Tubular pastas are available in many different sizes. Some tubes are long and narrow while others are short and wide. They can have smooth or grooved exteriors; their ends can be cut straight or at an angle. They work especially well with heavier sauces, which catch in the hollows of the tubes. Some of the larger tubes like manicotti can be stuffed with meat and/or cheese and then baked. Among the smallest is elbow macaroni, often used for the popular dish, baked macaroni and cheese.
Photo of manicotti tubes courtesy of MorgueFile.

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