One of the most beautiful things about pasta is its dynamic variety, which is almost infinite. Each pasta is not just different in appearance and texture – each type carries its own story and history. And the recipe is never static, it doesn’t just stick to Italian cuisine; it evolves through chef creativity, regional influence and fusion cuisines that give it fresh life. Whether you’re hoping to pick a pasta type to try next or just want to feed your curiosity, this is for you. Together, we’ll explore 10 different types of pasta.
1. Spaghetti Pasta
A long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin, made of semolina or flour and water. Spaghettini and spaghettoni are slightly thinner or thicker, respectively. Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning “thin string” or “twine”.
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2. Penne Pasta
A medium length tubes with ridges, cut diagonally at both ends. They can be either lisce (smooth) or rigate (grooved). Mostaccioli is also sometimes used for Barilla products, pennette have a shorter length and pennoni are wider and thicker. It is translated to pens or feathers.
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3. Fusilli Pasta
A long, thick, corkscrew-shaped pasta that may be solid or hollow. Fusilli comes from Italian word fuso, meaning “spindle”.
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4. Tagliatelle Pasta
A ribbons of egg-based pasta. Fettuccine is larger and thicker than tagliatelle. Tagliatelle is from the Italian tagliare, meaning “to cut” .
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5. Rigatoni Pasta
A Medium-Large tube with square-cut ends, sometimes slightly curved. Always grooved, and straight or bent depending on the extrusion method. Rigatoni is the from rigare, meaning “to line, furrow, groove”.
6. Macaroni
A small tube-shaped pasta, either bent or straight. Made with durum wheat, commonly cut in short lengths. Macaroni is a Greek word for food made from barley In Italian, maccheroni refers to elongated pasta, not necessarily in tubular form.
7. Lasagna
Square or rectangle sheets of pasta that sometimes have fluted edges (lasagne ricce). The square of pasta is lasagna while the dish is lasagne. It is also known by the plural form lasagne.
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8. Linguine
Linguine, sometimes anglicized as linguini, is a type of pasta similar to fettuccine and trenette, it is wider than spaghetti, but less wide than fettuccine. Linguine comes from the Latin word lingua, meaning ‘tongue’.
9. Orzo Pasta
A form of short-cut pasta shaped like a large grain of rice. Orzo is made from flour, often with semolina. Known in Italy as risoni.
10. Farfalle (Bow Tie Pasta)
A larger variation of farfalle is known as farfalloni, while the miniature version is called farfalline. The name is derived from the Italian word farfalle meaning ‘butterflies’.
