Types of Pasta – Gallery of Shapes with Names

Pasta comes in many shapes and sizes, there are hundreds of them… it is a staple dish in Italian cuisine but many other counties make pasta varieties as well.

Quite a few pasta shapes have more than one name depending on the region they were produced.

Below couple of shapes with names that we came across during out ventures, enjoy.

types of pasta orzo

orzo – rice macaroni

recipe suggestion: Orzo with Grilled Tomatoes

pasta shapes photo

filini / cut vermicelli pasta

recipe suggestion: Tomato and Cabbage Soup with Filini Pasta

Italian pasta shapes pasta gallery amori

curly tubes / amori also called cavatappi / corkscrews, spirali, tortiglioni, fusilli rigati

recipe suggestion: Pasta con le Cozze / Pasta with Mussels

different pasta shapes

cavatappi / corkscrews – a bit differently curled variation of the above pasta

recipe suggestion: Warm Pasta Salad with Sundried Tomatoes, Chestnut Mushrooms & Brie Cheese

Italian pasta shapes

conchiglie pasta / shell shaped pasta

recipe suggestion: Kluski z Makiem – Polish Pasta with Poppy Seeds

pasta in a bear shape animal shape pasta

bear shape pasta

types of filled pasta

tortellini – Italian filled pasta

recipe suggestion: Roasted Veggetables with Tortellini and Chick Peas

Turkish pasta

manti – Turkish tortellini

recipe suggestion: Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini on Baked Aubergines with Tomatoes and Pesto

green lasagne sheets

lasagne verdi

recipe suggestion: Tomato & Zucchini Lasagne / Lasagna with Tuna

miniature pasta shapes

conchigliette / mini shell shaped pasta

recipe suggestions: Minestrone Soup

shell shaped pasta shapes

wholeweat gnochi / conchiglie pasta

recipe suggestion: Vegetarian Smoky Fajita Pasta Bake

children pasta shapes

wholemeal animal shaped pasta

recipe suggestion: My Daughter’s Homemade Tomato Sauce

snail shaped pasta

dischi volanti

recipe suggestion: Quick Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms and Roasted Veg Sauce

macaroni pasta shape

macaroni

recipe suggestion: Macaroni and Cheese with Petits Pois and Roasted Corn

mafaldine corte frills falbanki

mafaldine corte / frills

recipe suggestion: Home-made Chunky Basil & Roasted Almond Pesto

rice pasta shapes rice tagiatelle

rice sticks noodles

recipe suggestion: Coconut & Peanut Butter Stir-fry Sauce

long macaroni pasta

spaghetti macaroni

recipe suggestion: Easy Garlicky Kale Sauce for Pasta

makaron kolanka macaroni with frills

elbows with frills pasta

recipe suggestion: Homemade Coconut, Pepper and Coriander Sauce

pasta gallery with different pasta shapes

lumache pasta

recipe suggestion: Coconut Chicken with Mushrooms and Peppers

pasta glossary

penne pasta

recipe suggestion: Cupboard Pasta Salad with Tuna & Pineapple

bow shaped pasta

farfalle pasta

recipe suggestion: Butter Fish & Farfalle Pasta

mini farafalle pasta

farfalline pasta

recipe suggestion: Rosół z Kury /Polish Chicken Soup

spaghetti pasta

wholemeal spaghetti

recipe suggestion: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca – Classic Italian Pasta Easy Garlicky Kale Sauce for Pasta

very long spaghetti pasta

spaghetti lunghi / long spaghetti

recipe suggestion: Smokey Spaghetti Bolognese

black pasta coloured with octopus ink

black spaghetti

recipe suggestion: Black Pasta Monsters

little circle pasta oval pasta round pasta shape

ditali rigati

recipe suggestion: Spiced Fruit Soup with Roasted Almonds

pasta shape gallery

fusilli pasta

recipe suggestion: Extremely Quick Coconut & Fajita Chicken for Rice or Pasta

tricolour tricolor pasta

tricolore fusilli

recipe suggestion: Pasta in Creamy Tuna Sauce

fusilli pasta shapes

very curly fusilli

recipe suggestion: Pasta Salad with Pesto, Sundried Tomatoes, Garlic and Cracked Pepper

large pasta tubes

rigatoni

recipe suggestion: Pasta Salad with Tuna, Mediterranean Veggies and Caribbean Herbs

pasta in shape of a star

stellette / mini star shaped pasta

recipe suggestion: Baby Soup with Cauliflower

noodle pasta

egg noodles

recipe suggestion: Egg Noodles with Purple Broccoli and Grilled Tofu

NOTES

More shapes coming soon…

Your thoughts…

  1. Nice noodle post!

  2. These pictures are great! I recently was trying to teach myself what all the different kinds of pasta were, and I wish I had seen this!

  3. When I was a child (a hundred years ago) there was an Italian grocery store on the south side of our little city. It was called
    Marachi’s & Ferretti’s. We are located about 100 miles from Chicago
    and they received almost daily deliveries.
    They had one whole wall of the store, lined from the counter to
    the ceiling with oak cabinates each about 12″ wide and 12″ high.
    They had glass fronts, and inside each one was a different stlye
    of pasta. If you spoke Italian you could ask for your choice, or
    you could just point, and the clerk would get you as much as you
    wanted. It was my first introduction to real Italian food.

  4. Hillary, I’m glad you like my post :)

    Konnie, what a beautiful memory… thank you for sharing them with us!

  5. Wow, great post. Wish I could make homemade jumbo conchiglie.

  6. Very informative post. Thks

  7. Henry Farkas says:

    When do we get more noodles?

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