When traveling to Italy, be prepared as pasta will be in almost every meal during your trip; it is not “always the same pasta”—it is always something different. So let’s talk about the shapes and the sauces or condiments to go with them, but not just common shapes such as spaghetti and penne.
Starting with “pasta mista”: this type was apparently thought up by traditional pasta makers in the Naples region, who previously sold pasta unpacked. By gathering leftovers from the bottom of the wooden crates where various shapes were stored, they started selling this pasta mista—exceptionally good with beans (pasta e fagioli) or potatoes (pasta e patate), along with parmigiano cheese and provola (a Neapolitan cheese). If you are lucky enough to find this on the menu, try it and you will not regret it. Pasta mista is primarily used only for these two recipes.
Moving on to “scialatielli”: in Neapolitan dialect, the word “scialare” means “enjoy”—need we explain further? It is not tagliatelle or linguine; scialatielli are short pasta that can be wide or thin and definitely vary in thickness. They are perfect with fish and cherry tomatoes, clams, shrimp, or scoglio sauce, very rarely with vegetables, sausage, and mushrooms.
Another traditional long-shaped pasta is called “lagane.” The Greeks and then the Romans used this name to indicate a round, flat pasta. Again, it’s not tagliatelle or pappardelle, and believe me, they look similar but are different—just like twins, similar but certainly delightful in different ways. This pasta is used primarily with chickpeas (lagane e ceci) in the Puglia region.
Now let’s open a chapter on “Fusilli”—you all know this one!
Great with tomato sauce, zucchini, eggplant, etc. But almost every province (less than 50 miles apart) has its own version: for example, in Campania you have:
If we then move to another region…
common in most regions
While fusilli goes well with most sauces, ever since Italians first imported tomatoes from America, a lasting love affair with tomatoes began, and the national dish became pasta with tomato sauce… but wait, we should have a separate chapter on tomato sauces—a very serious regional business!
Schiaffoni, Paccheri and Mezzi Paccheri “lisci and rigati,” etc.
Similar in shape but varying in size—smaller or larger, narrow or wide, smooth or ridged—the name means “slaps” because when you spoon them onto a dish, they make that distinctive slapping noise. They are excellent with slow-cooked (4-5 hours) tomato sauce or with fish ragout.
Almost the same shape but slightly shorter is Calamarata, recalling the size and shape of calamari slices.
Excellent with scoglio sauce with or without tomato, with fish in general, but also with vegetables such as broccoli.
The shape inspires the sauce and the condiments, but pasta can also be made with different types of flour—durum wheat, semolina, whole grain—and mixed with water, eggs, mashed potatoes, etc.
Great with slow-cooked tomato sauce, these are generally made with potatoes and semolina.
For stuffed pasta such as ravioli, tortelli, tortellini, tortellacci (basically similar shapes but different sizes and stuffings), almost every region has its own: Agnolotti, Casonzei, Marubini, Pansotti, Cappelletti, Culurgiones, and Cjarsons are only some examples… to be continued.