Pasta is one of the most popular types of pasta on the Russian market.
In Russia, pasta is also traditionally called all the numerous varieties, types and types of pasta.
Pasta is made from wheat flour and water using various molding and drying methods. For the production of products, various useful additives can be used - vitamins, dietary fiber, wheat germ, which turn the products into.
Types of pasta
According to GOST R 51865-2002 “Pasta products. General technical conditions”, three groups of goods are produced.Group A – pasta of the highest, first and second grades - made from durum wheat flour (durum) of the highest, first and second grades
Group B - premium and first grade pasta - made from premium and first grade soft glassy wheat flour
Group B – premium and first grade pasta - made from premium and first grade wheat baking flour
Contrary to popular belief, pasta is not a threat to. Products made from durum wheat contain a large amount of protein and are not a high-calorie product. The balanced composition of proteins, fats and carbohydrates facilitates easy digestion of pasta and does not interfere.
Pasta is a food product obtained by drying molded wheat dough to 11-13% moisture content. It is one of the most common foods in the world.
The classification of pasta is established according to several criteria.
Depending on the type of original wheat and the type of flour, pasta is divided into groups A, B, C and classes 1, 2:
Group A– products made from durum wheat flour;
Group B– products made from soft, highly glassy wheat flour;
Group B – products made from soft wheat baking flour;
Class 1– products made from premium flour;
Class 2– products made from grade I flour.
Thus, pasta of group A 1st class is made from premium flour obtained from durum wheat grain. Pasta of group B, 2nd class - from grade I baking flour.
When making pasta using flavoring or enriching additives, the name of the corresponding additive is added to the group and class indication, for example, group B, 1st class, egg, group B, 2nd class, tomato.
Depending on the shape, pasta is divided into the following types: tubular, thread-like (vermicelli), ribbon-like (noodles) and curly. Products of all types can be long or short. Each type of product, depending on its shape, length, width, thickness, is divided into subtypes and types.
Tubular products divided into three subtypes: pasta, horns, feathers
(Fig. 1). Pasta– tubes with a straight or wavy cut (when cutting dried pasta). Depending on the length, pasta can be short (15-20 cm) and long (more than 20 cm). Horns– curved or straight tubes with a straight cut 1.5-4 cm long (amateur ones up to 10 cm). Feathers– tubes with an oblique cut. Their length from an acute angle to an obtuse angle is 3-10 cm. Tubular products of each subtype are divided into types according to cross-sectional dimensions: Straw(except feathers) – up to 4 mm, Special – 4,1-5,5, Ordinary – 4,1-7,0, Amateur– more than 7 mm. The cross-sectional shape of tubular products can be round, square, corrugated. The thickness of their walls is no more than 2.0 mm.
They can also have a varied cross-sectional shape (Fig. 2).
Based on cross-sectional dimensions (mm), vermicelli is divided into the following types: Cobweb(no more than 0.8), Thin (0,9-1,2), Ordinary(1,3-1,5), Amateur(1.6-3.0). Vermicelli is produced depending on the length Short(short cut) – at least 1.5 cm long, and Long(double bent or single) - at least 20 cm long, and if there are more than 20% of noodles in a batch with a length of less than 20 cm, it is classified as short.
Rice. 1.Tubular products:
A - Pasta; B – Horns; IN– feathers
Foreign-made long vermicelli is usually called Spaghetti.
Rice. 2.
A– long; B– short-cut
Depending on the size and shape, it is available in various types and names with a smooth or corrugated surface, with straight, sawtooth and wavy edges (Fig. 3).
The width of the noodles should be from 3 to 10 mm (the width of the “Wave” noodles is up to 25 mm). The thickness of the noodles should be no more than 2 mm. By length, noodles are classified in the same way as vermicelli, and also if there are more than 20% of noodles in a batch with a length of less than 20 cm, they are classified as short.
Rice. 3.
A– long, B– short-cut
Figured products manufactured by pressing or stamping. Figured products can be produced in any shape and size, but the maximum thickness of any part of the product in the fracture should not exceed 3.0 mm for pressed products and 1.5 mm for stamped ones (Fig. 4).
It is planned to expand the range of pasta products. In recent years, much attention has been paid to the production of enriched instant products that do not require cooking, using heat treatment at the stages of kneading and molding. Before use they are filled with hot water.
Rice. 4.4. Figured products:
A- shells, B– scallops, IN– bows (stamped),
G– others, D– soup fillings
2. Nutritional value of pasta
The nutritional value of pasta depends on the type of flour and fortification additives. Pasta products are characterized by high nutritional value, good digestibility, simplicity and speed of preparing dishes from them.
The main advantages of pasta as food products:
- ability for long-term storage (more than a year) without changing properties: pasta is not at all susceptible to staleness, is less hygroscopic than crackers, cookies and breakfast cereals, and tolerates transportation well;
— speed and ease of preparation (cooking duration, depending on the assortment, ranges from 3 to 20 minutes);
- relatively high nutritional value: a dish prepared from 100 g of dry pasta satisfies 10-15% of a person’s daily need for proteins and carbohydrates;
- high digestibility of the main nutrients of pasta - proteins and carbohydrates.
Pasta products contain insufficient amounts of essential amino acids such as lysine, methionine, threonine. Therefore, when producing pasta, much attention is paid to creating products with a balanced composition of amino acids, vitamins and minerals . Fortified products have increased nutritional value . When egg and dairy products are used as fortifying additives, the biological value of pasta increases (the content of lysine, methionine, and tryptophan increases by 25-30%).
Table 1 shows the chemical composition, nutritional and energy value of pasta.
Table 1
Chemical composition (%) and nutritional value
pasta
The quality of pasta is assessed by organoleptic and physicochemical indicators. The consumer value of pasta products is determined primarily by their appearance: color, degree of surface roughness, fracture state, correctness of shape, absence of crumbs. Indicators such as acidity and cooking properties characterize the taste of pasta; humidity and mechanical strength - the ability for long-term storage and transportation without deterioration in quality.
Organoleptic indicators. These include color, surface, fracture, shape, taste, smell, and condition of the products after cooking.
Color pasta should be uniform in color, without traces of unmixing. It depends on the main and additional raw materials and the conditions of the technological production process. Products of group A from durum wheat pasta flour are characterized by a more yellow color, products of group B from soft glassy wheat flour and group B from baking flour are white or slightly creamy. Adding additives, such as tomato paste, produces a beautiful orange color.
Surface should be smooth, minor roughness is allowed.
IN Kus And Smell– characteristic of this type of product without any foreign taste or smell.
Form must match the type of pasta. In pasta, feathers, vermicelli and noodles, bends and distortions are allowed that do not impair their presentation. When determining the shape of tubular products, pay attention to the uniform thickness of the walls, soup fillings - to the same thickness of the plates, long products - to the same size and straightness.
Kink pressed dry products should be glassy. A white flour break indicates defects in the raw materials or processing of the dough. When cooking until cooked, the products should not stick together.
Physico-chemical indicators characterize the quality of pasta in terms of their humidity, acidity, ash content, insoluble in 10% HC1, cooking properties, metallomagnetic impurities, and pest infestation.
Humidity pasta sent to hard-to-reach areas, as well as transported by sea, should be no more than 11%, the rest - 13%.
Acidity– no more than 4, with the addition of tomato products – no more than 10, dairy, soy – no more than 5.
Cooking properties pasta products are characterized by the duration of cooking until done, the amount of absorbed water, loss of dry matter, and the degree of stickiness. The loss of dry matter during cooking is associated with either a decrease in the nutritional value of pasta (when draining the cooking liquid when preparing second courses), or clouding of the broth (when using the products as soup dressings). The higher the density of the products, the less dry matter passes into the cooking water, the more durable they remain after cooking and the better they retain their shape. However, as the density of the products increases, the duration of cooking until cooked increases and the amount of water absorbed during cooking decreases.
The cooking properties of pasta depend on the mass fraction of gluten and its quality. With a decrease in the amount of gluten, the cooking time decreases, the strength of the welded products decreases, the loss of dry substances and the stickiness of the finished product increase. The duration of cooking until done is affected by the shape of the product: as the wall thickness of the product increases, more dry matter is lost and the cooking time increases. The greater the surface roughness of the products, the higher the loss of dry substances, but the cooking time is somewhat shorter.
The condition of products after cooking is the main indicator of quality. When cooked until cooked, the products should not lose their shape, stick together, form lumps, or fall apart at the seams. The shape retention of welded products of group A must be at least 100%, groups B and C - 95%. Cooking water should not be cloudy, as this indicates the product has lost valuable nutrients. The loss of dry substances transferred into the cooking water should not exceed 6% for products of group A and 9% for groups B and C.
In addition to the specified organoleptic and physicochemical indicators, the standard also regulates requirements for such characteristics of pasta as strength, the presence of crumbs and deformed products.
Strength pasta products should ensure the preservation of their shape. Determined using a Stroganov device. It is measured by the force that must be applied in order for a product of a certain length and thickness to break. Break-resistant pasta must withstand a load of at least 600 g.
Deformed products include products with deviations from the given shape (pasta and feathers with a longitudinal tear, crumpled ends or significant curvatures; noodles gathered into folds; figured products that are completely or partially crumpled). Deformed products in each packaging unit are allowed no more than 2% of net weight.
Crumbs include fragments, scraps, and scraps of pasta (regardless of their size). The presence of crumbs for products of groups A and B is allowed no more than 1%, group B - 3% of the net weight of each packaging unit.
Watch your figure - eat pasta! It sounds paradoxical. But nutritionists have proven that products made from durum wheat not only do not harm the figure, but also help keep it slim.
This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age
Have you already turned 18?
It is difficult to say exactly when and where pasta first appeared. We can only assume that this happened soon after man began to grow wheat. And the dough just dried out in the sun. Scientists suggest that the birthplace of pasta could be China (and not Italy at all). This product became widespread thanks to geographical discoveries. People needed a product that was nutritious, tasty, and did not require special storage conditions. Pasta products fully met these requirements. In Russia, pasta gained popularity much later than in the East or Europe. Today, Russians occupy 14th place in the world in terms of consumption of these products.
Types of pasta
So, pasta is a product made from flour and water. Flour can be of different types and varieties. The type of pasta will depend on this: wheat, buckwheat, rice, corn, barley. Some species may have colors, which children especially like. The orange color comes from carrot juice, the green color comes from spinach, and the black color comes from cuttlefish juice. As you can see, all dyes are natural and safe for human health. Therefore, such pasta can be safely given to even the smallest lovers of this product.
Today, store shelves are literally littered with various types of pasta.
Conventionally, they can be divided into the following categories:
- The pasta is long.
- Short pasta.
- Curly pasta.
- Pasta for baking.
- The pasta is small.
- Stuffed pasta.
Let's look at each type.
Long pasta
So, the most popular type is long pasta (including spaghetti). This type also includes capellini, vermicelli, spaghettini, and bucatini. Flat pasta: bavette, fettuccine, tagliatelle, linguine, pappardelle, mafaldine. Translated, their names mean “worms” or “ropes.” They are 25 cm in length, but the thickness can vary: from 1 mm to 5 mm. Initially the length was 50 cm, but now it has been reduced for ease of preparation. But if you wish, you can also find very long pasta (up to 1 m) on store shelves or on the Internet. Long pasta also includes noodles. It can be wide, narrow, with straight or wavy edges. But the thickness of the noodles should not exceed 2 mm.
Short pasta
These include fusilli, girandole, penne, cavatappi, pipe, tortiglione, maccheroni. These are the spirals, feathers, tubes, and horns that are familiar to us. Due to its shape, this type of pasta is ideal for serving with various sauces. The sauce will penetrate inside the tubes, fill them with its taste and aroma, and give you unforgettable moments of gastronomic pleasure.
Figured pasta
This type of product is replete with variety: butterflies, springs, shells, snails, cars. They go well with cheese, especially Parmesan cheese, spicy sauces, and vegetables. Can be consumed both hot and cold.
Pasta for baking
These products will surprise you with their size. They are large hollow tubes or giant shells. These include cannelloni, manicotti, conciglione, conchiglie, lumaconi, lasagna. When preparing this type of pasta, everything will depend on the flight of the housewife’s imagination: tubes and shells can be stuffed with minced meat, chicken, mushrooms, cottage cheese, and vegetables. And every time the dish will play with new notes of taste. After the products are filled and placed in a baking dish, they should be poured with sauce (bechamel or any other), sprinkled with cheese and put in the oven until fully cooked. Lasagna sheets (rectangular flat shape) are alternated with the filling and coated with sauce. The finished dish gets its name from its base—a special type of pasta.
Small pasta
Convenient for making soups, they cook quickly, but do not become soggy, and keep their shape. These include products in the form of letters of the alphabet, short threads (cobwebs), rings, and stars. They will help you out if suddenly one of the household members suddenly gets hungry or guests come for an unexpected visit. Cooking such pasta will not take you more than 3 minutes.
Stuffed pasta
These include ravioli, tortellini, and gnocchi. The filling can be very diverse: from minced meat (and then the dish will remind us of traditional dumplings, only with pasta dough) to vegetables (the dish can safely be classified as vegetarian cuisine). The filling can also be cheese, chicken, ham, fruits and berries.
Types of pasta
The type of pasta tells us about the type of flour from which it is made.
The following groups are distinguished:
- Pasta group A. These are the most useful products made from durum wheat. They don’t get overcooked, hold their shape perfectly, and don’t require washing or adding a huge amount of oil. After cooking, it is enough to just throw such pasta in a colander and let the excess liquid drain. Then add a few drops of olive oil. That's it, a delicious and healthy dinner for the whole family is ready! In addition, products in this group contribute to the excellent functioning of the body: they increase resistance to stress, fight signs of aging, eliminate headaches, improve sleep, and remove toxins from the body.
- Pasta group B. Made from first and highest grade glassy wheat.
- Group B pasta. Made from regular bread flour, which is not very suitable for pasta. In some countries it is prohibited to produce pasta of this group. The quality of such products leaves much to be desired: they become overcooked, swell, do not hold their shape, and break. Externally, you can distinguish them already on the store counter: they have a whitish or bright yellow color, their surface is not smooth, like their more expensive counterparts, but rough. Such pasta costs an order of magnitude cheaper and belongs to the economy class segment.
- Pay attention to the composition. High-quality products will contain only 2 ingredients: water and flour. If you want to purchase colored pasta, the natural dye will be indicated on the package.
- Find information about the flour used to make this pasta. Ideally, it should be durum wheat flour. The package will say: first class, group A, durum wheat.
- If the pack is transparent, examine the appearance of the pasta. They should be of a dim golden-yellowish hue, with dark inclusions (the result of grain processing), and a smooth surface. There should be no debris at the bottom of the pack!
- Good pasta doesn't come cheap. Products made from durum wheat varieties will always cost more than their counterparts from groups B and C. But even here, act prudently, do not buy insanely expensive pasta from France and Germany, and do not overpay for the brand name and eye-catching packaging.
- Strength test at home. High-quality spaghetti is elastic; it bends easily, but does not break. Products made from soft flours are brittle and will crumble while still in the pack. The right pasta will not boil, lose its shape, or stick together. Even when cooked, the paste will retain its pleasant amber color, and the water will become slightly cloudy after cooking. If cooked pasta tastes bitter, it means that the storage conditions of the flour from which it was made were violated. The fats contained in it have already gone rancid.
Before purchasing pasta, pay attention to the production date. The average shelf life of such a product is 3 years. Coloring shortens this period; colored pasta can be stored for 2 years. Egg pasta is the most perishable: it should be consumed within a year after the production date. Look where the production date is printed: on the pack itself or on a special sticker. An unscrupulous manufacturer may change the shelf life of products. Ideally, the date is stamped directly on the package.
Pasta, like any product made from flour, is difficult to call dietary. However, you should not completely abandon this product, because pasta made from durum wheat contains a large amount of vegetable protein and, if consumed in moderation, is unlikely to harm your figure. At the same time, the concept of “pasta made from durum wheat” in some cases can be quite arbitrary. We’ll tell you what indirect signs you can use to understand that this is a quality product.
Features of national pasta
In many countries - Italy, France, Greece, and other EU countries - pasta is made exclusively from durum wheat. In Russia there are no such strict standards - apparently because in our country pasta has long been used as a side dish or added to soups, and not at all as an independent dish. The current GOST allows the content of soft flour in pasta made from durum wheat flour to be 15% of the total mass of the product. At the same time, no one excludes that in pasta produced according to its own technical specifications (TU), the percentage of “soft” flour will be 15 or even 50%, and the product can still be called pasta made from durum wheat.
Look for letters
The concept of “highest grade” is quite rightly associated by consumers with quality products. However, in the case of pasta made from durum wheat, you should not rely only on this inscription on the package. The phrase “highest grade” means exclusively the type of flour from which pasta is made, and it can be either “soft” or “hard”. It's best to look at the letters. Group A represents pasta made from only durum wheat flour, group B is products made from soft glassy wheat, group B is made from baking flour. In addition, durum wheat can be identified on packaging by the words durum, "durum wheat" or semolina di grano duro.
Group A pasta is more expensive, which means it is at risk - manufacturers are tempted to save on raw materials by diluting it with flour from soft wheat varieties. To reduce the likelihood of purchasing a low-quality product, we advise you to pay attention to the “GOST” marking on the packaging.
IMPORTANT!
The inscription “highest grade” and “highest quality” on simple, inexpensive pasta of group B means that it is made from high-grade baking flour, devoid of almost all useful substances. If you do not like pasta made from durum wheat, it is better to choose the healthier first or second variety. You can read more about types of baking flour
Pasta made from durum wheat is distinguished not only by its ease of preparation, but also by its nutritional value. Protein speaks most eloquently about this. Of course, the ideal composition of pasta is only durum wheat flour and water. Such a product must contain at least 10 g of protein per 100 g of product. A smaller amount may already indirectly indicate that quite a lot of soft flour admixtures were used in production.
Rate the view
Upon closer inspection of pasta, you can almost always dot the i’s in their grade. If the inclusions are white, this indicates the active use of soft flour; black inclusions indicate the remains of the shell of durum wheat grain. The palette of shades of high-quality pasta is limited to a corridor from golden to amber. A shift towards yellow or white may indicate the presence of soft varieties in the flour composition. In addition, a high-quality product will not break - its packaging should not contain broken pasta or crumbs. At the same time, one should not exclude the fact that the packaging of pasta could simply be stored or transported carelessly.
Break them
Another easy way to determine the quality of spaghetti, for example, is to bend it. Products made from soft varieties quickly break, while pasta made from durum wheat is durable, bends well, and is very difficult to break. You can also detect the presence of soft flour in pasta by assessing its fracture: it should be glassy and smooth.
Boil them
Cook the pasta according to all the rules and see what happens to the water and the shape of the products. If the pasta is not misshapen and the water is slightly cloudy, you have purchased real pasta made from durum wheat. If the pasta is overcooked, sticks together, and the water becomes very cloudy, it is possible that this is a fake.
Keep them
Before purchasing, be sure to check the expiration date. Pasta is one of those products that can be stored for quite a long time. The average shelf life is about three years; colored products with additives (carrot or spinach) will be edible for 24 months.
True, unscrupulous manufacturers sometimes deliberately change the shelf life by printing a new one on a special sticker. You should not buy such a product. For high-quality pasta, the expiration date is stamped directly on the package.
You can only be guaranteed to choose a truly high-quality product with the help of extensive research by Roskachestvo. A list of the highest quality durum wheat spaghetti can be found .
08.03.2016
Before moving on to the types, I’ll tell you what pasta is.
Pasta(pasta or pasta) - a yellow product made from dried or fresh dough. The dough for classic pasta is made from wheat flour and water.
For my recipes I choose only pasta from durum wheat. Such pasta only brings benefits.
What is the difference between pasta made from soft flour and pasta made from hard flour?
What kind of pasta won't make your butt grow?
How to buy high-quality pasta without overpaying for Italian roots?
Answers to these and other questions in the article
.
Pasta is made not only from wheat flour. For example, to make, or funchose, when making pasta, instead of or together with wheat, buckwheat or rice flour is added, as well as starch, which is obtained from beans.
You can distinguish the states in which pasta occurs.
So there are three types of pasta:
-
Dry
Classic dry pasta that you can buy in the store. It is stored from six months to three years. -
Fresh
Paste in the form of undried dough. It can be stored for one or two days, but is mostly cooked immediately after preparation. -
Full
Ready-made pasta, seasoned with filling, sauce, and seasonings. Eats right away. Doesn't last long.
In Italy, the dried product made from flour and water was called “dough” (Italian: Pasta). The Russian name “pasta” comes from the Greek “makaria”, which means “food made from barley flour”. Over time, the name stuck to the entire group of pasta products.
Pasta has become widespread throughout the world and has become the culinary base for many recipes. Pasta dishes are popular in and cuisine.
Different shapes and types of pasta
The types and types of pasta (pasta) vary:
- Shape;
- Length;
- Color;
- Thickness;
- Type of flour;
- Ingredients included;
- Cooking time until done;
- The ability to absorb and retain sauce on the surface;
All these parameters divide pasta into hundreds of varieties. Some types are familiar only to a close circle of culinary specialists and are prepared in expensive restaurants or in households. Other types of pasta are famous and in demand all over the world.
Various forms of paste were invented to retain and distribute various sauces, gravies and juices of meat, fish or vegetables over its surface. Many varieties of pasta were made specifically to be served with a specific type of sauce or dish.
Some types and forms of pasta
In 2015, I started compiling a list of types of pasta. Still can't complete it and bring it to its logical conclusion. But I’m not abandoning the topic.
The list of types of pasta and recipes for them is in a state of completion.
Separately, I note that the cooking time indicated in the descriptions is approximate. Before cooking pasta, check the instructions on the package.
To pasta didn't stick together after cooking,
I recommend reading about .
You will also learn what is “al dente”?
How and how long to cook long and short pasta?
When is it a sin to wash pasta, and when is it not so bad?
Before going to the store, keep in mind that pasta in recipes can be easily replaced with a similar type from the same group.
You can determine the size of pasta by its name, and specifically by its Italian ending:
- -oni- large
- -ette or -etti- small
- -ini- small
Types of pasta can be divided according to shape into 6 categories:
Type of pasta (pasta)
Capellini (Italian: Capellini)
Definition, Shape and Size
Capellini is a long and extremely thin pasta. One of the thinnest types of pasta.
The approximate thickness of the pasta is 0.9 - 1.1 mm.
Size of capellini pasta
Description and history
Capellini originated in north central Italy. Translated from Italian, “capellino” means hair or thin hair.
Due to its thin shape, this type of dry paste is nicknamed “Venus hair” (Italian: Capelvenere). But the Italians made a paste that is even thinner. They called it “Capeli di Angelo” (Italian: Capelli d’angelo), which translates as “angel hair”.
Peculiarities
Despite the fact that the pasta strands look quite fragile, cappellini do not break when added to boiling water and hold their shape well after cooking.
Traditionally, capellini pasta is made from coarse durum wheat flour. This gives the thin, long pasta a beautiful golden color.
What does it go with and how is it served?
Capellini is perfect with light sauces or soups.
In Italy, it is popular to serve it in the form of nests, in the middle of which a filling of meat and vegetables is placed, and then poured over with sauce. Around Naples, capellini is used in meat and vegetable casseroles and broken down into soups.
Boiled capellini with vegetables and pepper. Source pccmarkets.com
How long to cook
until ready: 3 minutes.
"al dente": 2 minutes.
Recipes with Capellini pasta
Vermicelli (Italian: Vermicelli;)
Form:
A long and fairly thin paste with a round cross-section (from 1.4 mm to 2 mm in diameter).
Description:
This type of dry pasta is rightfully considered one of the ancient ones. The first mention of vermicelli dates back to the beginning of 1338. At that time, the famous cook Barnaba da Reatinis, who wrote the book “Collection of the Properties of Products,” captured in his notes how widespread this type of pasta became in the northern part of Italy. In each region, vermicelli was called differently: “orati” in Bologna, “minutelli” in Venice, “fermentini” in Reggio Emilia and “pancardelli” in Mantova.
Translated into Russian, the word “Vermicelli” means “worms”.
Peculiarities:
The appearance is reminiscent of classic spaghetti, but the vermicelli is smaller in length and width. It is also produced in the form of “nests” and in broken form.
Combined and served:
Traditionally served with light tomato sauces or sauces based on fish or seafood. Vermicelli is also great for salads, and also goes well with vegetable sauce with the addition of zucchini, eggplant and sweet peppers.
Cooking time: 14 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 12 min.
Recipes for dishes with Vermicelli:
Spaghetti (Italian: Spaghetti)
Form: A long and thin paste with a round cross-section (from 1.8 mm to 2 mm in diameter).
Description: Without a doubt, spaghetti is an unspoken symbol of Italian cuisine and the most famous and popular type of pasta all over the world.
This format of long dry pasta was originally prepared in the south of Italy, in cities such as Naples, Genoa and Liguria.
One of the first official mentions in the history of the appearance of spaghetti was the name “spaghetto” recorded in the first dictionary of the Italian language, under the authorship of Nicolo Tommaseo and Bernardo Bellini in 1819. The word “spaghetto” was a diminutive derivative of the word “spago” (Italian Spago), which meant twine or twine in translation, and was described in the context: “spaghetti soup is a pasta product, the size of a small rope and as long as sopracapellini.
On April 1, 1957, the British television channel BBC presented a documentary film to the general public. Everything would be fine if not for one “but”, this story told how, thanks to many years of work by agronomists, it was possible to grow pasta of the same length and thickness on a pasta tree. Not everyone appreciated the humor, and the next day after the broadcast, the BBC studio received a huge number of calls from those who wanted to buy pasta trees.
Peculiarities: A universal type of pasta.
Initially, the length of spaghetti was about 50 cm. Nowadays, for comfortable cooking, the length has been reduced to approximately 24-27 cm, but on store shelves you can find spaghetti of the old size or order it on the Internet, for example, .
Combined and served: With its optimal thickness, spaghetti is considered a universal type of pasta. They go perfectly with rich and thick sauces based on tomatoes or fish, as well as with delicate and light creamy sauces based on cream, soft and hard cheeses, and seafood.
Cooking time: 12 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 10 min.
Recipes for dishes with Spaghetti:
Spaghettini (Italian: Spaghettini)
Form: Long and thin paste with a round cross-section (from 1.63 to 1.70 mm). Thinner compared to spaghetti.
Description: Dry long pasta originally from Southern Italy, and more specifically from the city of Naples
Peculiarities: A universal type of pasta.
Combined and served: Traditionally, light sauces based on olive oil are served along with Spaghettini, so as not to weigh down its elegance. Connoisseurs of good cuisine do not recommend using cheese with them, including sprinkling them with grated Parmesan, but recommend various light, spicy sauces that are typical of the South of Italy to accompany this pasta format.
Ideal in combination with a variety of seafood, with the addition of olives, which together form an interesting and appetizing harmony of taste of Mediterranean cuisine. Hot and cold sauces made from fresh tomatoes, various vegetables and herbs are also considered suitable for this pasta format.
Cooking time: 9 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 7 min.
Recipes for dishes with Spaghettini (Italian: Spaghettini):
Spaghettoni (Italian: Spaghettoni)
Form: A long and thin paste with a round cross-section.
Description: Spaghettoni is a long dry pasta that is similar to classic spaghetti, but has a larger diameter. There are also varieties of this pasta that are 2 times the length of spaghetti. This enlarged view looks more impressive when serving a dish, and is also more filling.
Peculiarities: Despite its greater thickness, this type of pasta retains the length and flexibility of classic spaghetti. A universal type of pasta.
Combined and served: Spaghettoni goes well with a variety of sauces, from light to the most sophisticated.
They amazingly reveal and emphasize the taste of rich sauces, for example, fish, and also spicy ones with a pronounced taste and aroma of garlic and red pepper.
This type of paste is also well suited for preparing dishes with pumpkin flowers, with sauce made from lamb or beef, chicken liver or offal or shellfish. That is, by and large, this type of pasta, like spaghetti, is a fairly universal type of pasta.
Cooking time: 13 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 11 min.
Recipes for dishes with Spaghettoni: -
Bucatini (Italian: Bucatini)
Form: A long paste (approximately 25-30 cm), similar in appearance to a straw. The shape is similar to long and straight tubes with a thickness of 0.98 to 1.08 mm and a diameter of 3-4 mm. and about 3-4 mm wide.
Description: Bucatini, also known as Perchatelli, first appeared in Naples and belongs to the long dry pasta group. Translated, “bucato” means pierced or full of holes.
Outwardly, they resemble thick spaghetti, but with a hollow core.
Bucatini is often served throughout the province of Lazio, and is especially popular in Rome.
Peculiarities: A type of pasta with a hollow center.
Combined and served: The most suitable sauce for bucatini is considered to be with loin and tomatoes.
This type of pasta also goes well with vegetable dressings made from tomato sauce with sweet peppers, eggplant, zucchini, olives and a small addition of capers.
In Italian cuisine, this pasta is often served with meat, vegetables, cheese, eggs and anchovies.
Cooking time: 11 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 9 min.
Recipes for dishes with Bucatini (Italian: Bucatini):
Maccheroncini (Italian: Maccheroncini)
Form: A long and thin paste with a round cross-section. Larger in size than Bucatini.
Description: Maccheroncini is a long dry pasta that is a creative interpretation of the Maccheroni pasta format, one of the most popular pasta varieties in Italy.
The Maccheroncini shape opens up scope for culinary imagination. On the one hand, they have the standard length of classic spaghetti, on the other hand, they have a hollow core, more typical of short types of pasta.
Peculiarities: A unique combination of properties of long and short paste. A type of pasta with a hollow center.
Combined and served: Thanks to its structure, Maccheroncini will be perfectly combined with both thick meat and fish sauces and light vegetable dressings.
You can also serve them with light tomato sauces, flavored with oregano and basil.
Cooking time: 8-9 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 7 min.
Recipes for dishes with Maccheroncini (Italian: Maccheroncini):
Bavette (Italian: Bavette)
Form: Long and relatively thin paste. Similar to spaghetti, but differs in its flattened shape.
Description: Bavette is a long, dry, thin noodle-like paste. This type of pasta was first made on the northern coast of the Ligurian Sea in one of the smallest regions of Italy - Liguria.
Peculiarities: With the help of its compressed shape, the paste retains the sauce well on the surface and allows it to reveal the full palette of taste and aroma of the dish.
Combined and served: Bavettes will be excellent even if prepared and served simply sprinkled with hard grated cheese. Either way, this type of pasta goes great with Pesto Genovese (pesto sauce), with its rich basil flavor and rich cheese flavor.
Bavette will also be great served in a seafood sauce.
By and large, this type of pasta is universal and goes well with many vegetable or fish sauces with which long pasta is served.
Cooking time: 12 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 10 minutes.
Recipes with Bavette (Bavette):
Linguine (Italian: Linguine)
Form: Long thin paste. Also “nests”, but small. In appearance it resembles thin strips with a thickness of 1.4 mm to 1.60 mm. Closer in shape to spaghetti, but differ in that they are slightly flattened.
Description: Linguine (Italian: Linguine, translated as tongues) is a classic Italian pasta in the form of thin strips of large-format noodles, originally from the Tyrrhenian Sea coast of the administrative region of Naples - the Campania region (Italian: Campania).
Peculiarities: Similar to spaghetti, but different in flatness. They are also produced in the form of “nests”.
Combined and served: The combination of Linguine with sauces based on fresh tomatoes provides an excellent taste effect. Also a good combination for this pasta would be the addition of fresh vegetables and hot sauce with garlic and fish.
This pasta format is also excellent in sauces with the addition of seafood and shellfish, creamy sauces based on cream or mascarpone cheese.
Linguine is often served with seafood or pesto sauce.
Cooking time: 12 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 10 min.
Recipes for dishes with Linguine (Italian: Linguine): -
Fettuccine (Italian: Fettuccine)
Form: In our opinion, like Tagliatelle, it is also one of the types of “nests” of pasta. Thin long and flat strips of dough about 7-8 mm wide. The pasta is similar to Tagliatelle, but is wider. Woven into peculiar “nests”.
Description: Fettuccine is one of the popular types of pasta in Rome. This product of Italian cuisine acquired its name due to its external resemblance to ribbons, from the Italian “Fettuccia”, which means “ribbon”.
Typically, in Italy, fresh or homemade noodles are used to make this type of pasta, however, in Italian markets you can buy pre-dried “nests”.
This type of pasta is extremely popular in the USA, especially the most famous “Italian” dish is “Fettucine Alfredo”, which is practically unknown in Italy. This dish was invented in Italy by the owner of a Roman restaurant, Alfredo Di Lelio. It is noteworthy that in Italy this recipe was not widely spread and was not included in the section of traditional national cuisine.
Outside of Italy, this dish has become very popular and has also become a kind of sign of good life in Rome. Numerous American tourists arriving in Italy look for restaurants where they can enjoy “real” Fettuccine and are often disappointed by the lack of this dish.
Peculiarities: The rough and slightly porous texture of the paste, combined with the optimal width of the noodles, flawlessly holds the sauce on its surface, allowing it to maximize all shades of taste.
Combined and served: The delicate taste of thinly rolled dough can be complemented by bold notes of savory tomato and fish sauces.
Fettuccine is also served with light sauces made from fresh vegetables, herbs and shrimp.
Cooking time: 6-7 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 5-6 min.
Recipes for dishes with Fettuccine:
Tagliatelle (Italian: Tagliatelle)
Form: Pasta "nests". Long flat paste 6.5 mm - 10 mm wide. The shape is very similar to Fettuccine, but differs in the smaller width of the dough strips. Woven into peculiar “nests”.
Description: Tagliatelle (Italian tagliatelle, from Italian Tagliare, which means “to cut”) is a traditional long dry Italian pasta with the addition of eggs, originally from the Emilia-Romagna region. One of the varieties of tagliatelle egg noodles is pizzoccheri (Italian: Pizzoccheri) - flat noodles that consist of 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour.
According to legend, tagliatelle was invented by the Italian chef Zafiran in 1487 during the Renaissance. The romantic and virtuoso chef was inspired by the blonde and curly hair of Lucrezia Borgia and created pasta in honor of her engagement to Alfonso I d'Este. This type of pasta was given the name Tagliolini di pasta e sugo, alla maniera di Zafiran (tagliolini made from dough with sauce according to Zafiran's recipe) and served in silver dishes.
In 1972, the Academy of Italian Cuisine and the Order of Tortellino solemnly and officially recorded in the Bologna Chamber of Commerce and Industry the recipe for making tagliatelle and certified their width as 8 mm, and specifically it should have been 0.01227th part of the height of the Asinelli Tower (Torre degli Asinelli ).
Nowadays, Tagliatelle can be considered a typical pasta of the North of Italy, the city of Bologna (Italian: Bologna). She became a kind of personification of the city.
Peculiarities: Due to its porous and rough texture and flat shape, Tagliatelle holds any sauce well on its surface. Very often they are produced in the form of “nests”.
Combined and served: This type of pasta goes perfectly with thick sauces made from beef, veal, pork and rabbit.
Tagliatelle also goes well with mascarpone cream cheese, Bolognese sauce or a variety of fish sauces.
Cooking time: 6-7 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 5-6 min.
Recipes for dishes with Tagliatelle (Italian: Tagliatelle): -
Pappardelle (Italian: Pappardelle)
Form: the same “nests” of pasta, only larger ones. A long paste in the form of a flat ribbon of dry noodles about 12-13 mm wide.
The width of fresh pasta can reach 20-30 mm.
Description: Pappardelle is one of the widest types of flat egg pasta. Originating from the administrative center of Florence - Tuscany (Italian: Toscana). The Italian verb “pappare” gives the name to these noodles, translated it means “eat joyfully and with pleasure.”
Peculiarities: Pappardelle is often cooked only until the moment when they just become soft, after which they are taken out of the pan, huge “nests” are added to the sauce and only then wait until they are ready. This way, the wide pasta absorbs the sauce better and becomes even more appetizing and aromatic.
Also Pappardelle are the largest of all long egg paste formats
Combined and served: In Tuscany, there are 2 classic recipes for Pappardelle: with rabbit or hare stew and with stewed duck sauce.
However, this type of pasta goes well with beans or mushrooms.
Pappardelle will also harmonize perfectly with fish and vegetable sauces, as well as with shrimp or lobster with spinach.
Cooking time: 7-8 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 6-7 min.
Recipes for dishes with Pappardelle (Italian: Pappardelle): -
Mafaldine (Italian: Mafaldine)
Form: Long ribbon-like paste with wavy edges. The width of the pasta is about 14 mm, the thickness of the smooth part is from 0.9 to 1 mm, and the thickness of the wavy part is approximately 1.3 to 1.4 mm. The shape of Mafaldine is similar to a long ribbon with wavy edges.
Description: Mafaldine is a dry, long paste with characteristic wavy edges. This type of pasta was invented in Naples and was called at that time “rich fettuccelle”.
Mafaldine were made in honor of Princess Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana of Savoy and were named "Reginette" (Italian: Reginette, which means "queen") or "Mafaldine" in her honor. Similar to the wavy lace that was used to trim the Queen’s outfits, these macarons can truly be considered “royal”.
Peculiarities: After cooking, they have a characteristic and uneven consistency, varying on the smooth and wavy parts of the paste. Another feature of this type of pasta is the ability to “save” the added sauce on the surface of the wavy part.
A universal type of pasta.
Combined and served: Mafaldine is very suitable for holiday dishes.
This type of pasta is quite versatile in preparation and can be seasoned with game sauces, fish sauces based on seafood, as well as creamy sauces based on soft cheeses with spices such as curry, saffron or ginger.
Cooking time: 9 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 7 min.
Recipes for dishes with Mafaldine: -
Short pasta
Fusilli (Italian: Fusilli)
Form: Represents 3 dough blades connected and twisted in a spiral. It is approximately 6 to 15 mm wide, 40 to 70 mm long, and about 10 mm in diameter.
Description: Fusilli (Italian Fusilli, translated as small spirals) is a traditional Italian spiral-shaped pasta made from durum wheat.
In the old days, Fusilli was made by hand and this craft was passed down according to tradition from mother to daughter. The paste was quickly twisted around a knitting needle. Due to the external similarity of this movement to the spinning of thread, this type of pasta is called Fusilli, from the Italian word “Fuso”, which means “spindle” for spinning wool.
Peculiarities: Fusilli are sometimes dyed in different colors using natural dyes such as spinach or beets. Thanks to its swirled shape, this paste perfectly holds any sauce on its surface.
One of the universal types of short pasta.
Combined and served: Fusilli goes well with all types of sauces. This pasta opens up many possibilities for culinary experiments. Meat and cream sauces, as well as sauces based on cheeses, tomatoes with the addition of eggplant, zucchini, peppers, olives, etc., all go perfectly with Fusilli. They can also be used in preparing salads.
Cooking time: 11 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 9-10 minutes.
Recipes for dishes with Fusilli (Italian: Fusilli):
Penne rigate (Italian: Penne rigate), in our language “feathers”.
Form: Short pasta with diagonal cuts and a ribbed surface. The diameter is about 8-10 mm, the length is 35-40 mm and the thickness is from 1.2 to 1.3 mm.
Description: Penne Rigate is one of the most commonly consumed short pasta formats in Italy. This type of pasta got its name for its external similarity to ancient quills for writing (Italian “penna”, translated means pen.
Like many other types of pasta, penne was invented in the south of Italy in the Campania region. In other regions of the country they are called by their own. For example, in Umbria they were called “spole” (Italian: “spole”, which translates as “shuttles”), and a little further south - “maltagliati” (Italian: “maltagliati”, which translates as “poorly chopped”).
Penne is also divided by shape into:
- Rigate (ribbed, striped);
- Lisce (smooth);
- Piccole (small).
All Penne pasta has the characteristic shape of a hollow tube with diagonal cuts, but differs in types (there are more than 10), such as:
- - feathers with a ribbed surface; Approximate dimensions: diameter 10 mm, length 35-40 mm, thickness 1.2 to 1.3 mm;
- - feathers with a smooth surface. Approximate dimensions: diameter 10 mm, length 35-40 mm and thickness 1.2 to 1.3 mm.
- - reduced feathers with a ribbed or smooth surface. Approximate dimensions: diameter 5-6 mm, length 12-13 mm and thickness 1.1 to 1.2 mm;
- Penne mezzane rigate (Italian: Penne mezzanerigate)
- feathers with a ribbed surface. They differ from penne rigate in increased length and reduced width. Approximate dimensions: diameter 7 mm, length 36-37 mm, thickness 1.2-1.3 mm;
- - feathers with a smooth surface. They differ from penne lisce in increased length and reduced width. Approximate dimensions: diameter 7 mm, length 36-37 mm, thickness 1.2-1.3 mm;
- - feathers with a smooth surface. They differ from penne lisce in increased thickness and reduced length. Approximate dimensions: diameter 13 mm, length 42 mm, thickness from 1.2 to 1.35 mm;
- Penne piccole rigate (Italian: Penne piccolerigate)
- even smaller feathers with a ribbed surface, compared to Pennette rigate. Approximate dimensions: diameter 5 mm, length 31-32 mm, thickness 1.1-1.2 mm;
- Penne piccole lishche (Italian: Penne piccolelisce)
– even smaller feathers with a smooth surface, compared to Pennette rigate. Approximate dimensions: diameter 5-6 mm, length about 34 mm; thickness 1-1.1 mm.
Peculiarities: This type of pasta was intended from the very beginning as a basis for culinary experiences and experiments. This is confirmed by the large number of variations in the shape of this paste.
Can be paired with any sauce.
Combined and served: Penne Rigate goes very well with various sauces, including classic tomato or meat, as well as cream, cheese and fish. In turn, they are excellent for preparing all kinds of casseroles.
The form of Penne Rigata will come in handy, for example, in the classic recipe for Boscaiola pasta with dried porcini mushrooms and ham.
Cooking time: 11 minutes. Cooking time "al dente": 10 minutes.
Recipes for dishes with Penne rigate (Italian: Pennerigate):
Figured pasta
Farfalle (Italian farfalle - butterflies)
Form:
They are square pieces of dough compressed in the middle. On the sides, the edges of the paste are pointed and cut into triangles. In appearance they resemble bows or butterflies.
The average size of a farfalle is 3-4 cm wide and 2-3 cm high.
Description:
Farfalle was invented at the beginning of the 16th century in North-West Italy in Lombardy (Italian: Lombardia) and Emilia-Romagna (Italian: Emilia-Romagna).
Translated from Italian, “farfalle” means “butterflies”. In Russia, this type of paste is usually called “bows”.
Thanks to the different thickness of the dough - thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges - they have gained popularity among other pastas.
The “wings” of butterflies are slightly thinner than the base, so after cooking they turn out softer and more tender.
Peculiarities:
Figured farfalle pasta has an interesting structure. In the middle the dough is thicker and denser, but at the edges it is thinner.
This feature gives this type of pasta a variety of organoleptic sensations when eating. After cooking, the “butterfly wings” are softer and more tender than the core.
Due to its bizarre and unusual shape, this type of pasta is especially popular among children.
In addition to classic farfalle in standard sizes, there are also other types:
- Farfalle rigate(Italian farfalle rigate, translated as “striped butterflies”). “Rigate” means that there are additional stripes-grooves on the surface of the paste. They help retain the sauce better. They are combined with meat and cream sauces, as they perfectly retain them on the surface;
- Farfalle tonde(Italian: Farfalle Tonde). A type of farfalle with round cut edges in the shape of a spoon. This shape allows you to retain more sauce inside the “spoon”. Pasta goes well with any thick sauces.
- Farfallette(Italian: Farfallette) About 1/3 smaller in size than regular butterflies. Traditionally, Farfallette is served with mushroom sauce. Also goes well with light vegetable, cheese or cream sauces.
- Mini farfalle(Italian: mini farfalle). Smaller in size than farfalle, but larger than farfallini. Suitable for salads and light vegetable, fish, creamy sauces;
- Farfallini(Italian: Farfalline) The smallest type of farfalle pasta. Because of its size, it is mainly used for making soups;
- Farfalle integral(Italian: Farfalle Integrale). “Integrale” in this case means that natural dyes such as beets, spinach, cuttlefish ink, etc., different types of flour or seasonings were added to the dough in order to change the color and taste of the paste.
The most common color combination is green, white and red - the tricolor of the national flag of Italy. They are combined with light vegetable-based sauces, and also work well in various salads.
Combined and served:
Farfalle pasta is versatile. Its different shapes and sizes will allow you to choose the right type for any sauce.
Standard classic farfalle is suitable for both light vegetable or fish sauces and thicker creamy, cheese and tomato sauces.
Due to their shape, bows are used in side dishes, soups, cold and hot salads. Their whimsical shapes, inspired by the shape of butterflies, will liven up any lunch or dinner.
Cooking time:
Classic farfalle is cooked until al dente for 8-9 minutes. Cook for 10-11 minutes until fully cooked.
Recipes for dishes with Farfalle (Italian farfalle) butterflies/bows:
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