Italia
Pasta shapes from All of Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe.
- Shapes
- 33
- With a full profile
- 27
- Families
- long strands, ribbons, tubes, short shapes, stuffed, pastina, hand-formed
- Made by hand
- 3
- Egg dough
- 3
- Sauces
- 11
- Classic plates
- 71
The cooking of the region
Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Roman times, and later spread around the world together with waves of Italian diaspora. Significant changes occurred with the colonization of the Americas and the consequent introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums, and maize, as well as sugar beet—the latter introduced in quantity in the 18th century. Italian cuisine is one of the best-known and most widely appreciated worldwide. In 2025, Italian cuisine was listed as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.
Sauces from All of Italy
Pomodoro
tomato · thin
Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
Meat ragu
meat · chunky
Any slow meat sauce with solids in it. It wants a shape with a cavity: a wide tube, a cup, or a broad ribbon.
Sausage ragu
meat · chunky
Crumbled sausage, often with fennel, cooked in tomato or white wine. Orecchiette in Puglia, rigatoni everywhere else.
Cream sauce
cream · medium
Panna with cheese, mushrooms, ham, or peas. Heavy and clinging. Ridges and cups keep it on the pasta.
Tuna and tomato
seafood · medium
Canned tuna, tomato, garlic, capers. A pantry sauce. Short shapes and small tubes.
Vegetable ragu
vegetable · chunky
Diced vegetables cooked slowly in tomato or oil. Zucchini, peppers, eggplant. Short shapes with folds.
Ricotta
cheese · medium
Fresh ricotta loosened with pasta water, with lemon, pepper, or spinach. Mild and creamy. Short shapes and ribbons.
Four cheese
cheese · medium
Gorgonzola, fontina, parmesan, and one more, melted into cream. Heavy. Gnocchi, penne, or a baked shape.
Pasta e fagioli
broth · soup
Beans, soffritto, a little tomato, and small pasta cooked in the soup. Ditalini, tubetti, or broken spaghetti.
Minestrone
broth · soup
A thick vegetable soup with beans and a small pasta added at the end. Ditalini, conchigliette, or anellini.
Baked (al forno)
baked · baked
Pasta finished in the oven with sauce and cheese, or stuffed and baked. It needs a sturdy shape that survives twice cooking.
33 shapes from All of Italy
Acini di pepe
Pastina · All of Italy
tiny beads the size of peppercorns
Alphabet pasta
Pastina · All of Italy
tiny letters of the alphabet
Campanelle
Short shapes · All of Italy
cone rolled from a ruffled sheet, open like a bell
Cavatappi
Tubes · All of Italy
hollow ridged tube wound into a corkscrew
Chifferi
Tubes · All of Italy
short curved elbow tube, usually ridged
Conchiglie
Short shapes · All of Italy
cupped shell with ridges on the outside
Conchiglioni
Short shapes · All of Italy
jumbo shell for stuffing
Creste di gallo
Short shapes · All of Italy
curved ridged tube with a ruffled crest along the outer edge
Farfalline
Pastina · All of Italy
tiny bow ties for soup
Gemelli
Short shapes · All of Italy
one strand folded and twisted on itself, like two strands entwined
Gnocchi
Hand-formed · All of Italy
small soft dumpling of potato and flour, often ridged on a fork
Lasagnette
Ribbons · All of Italy
narrow lasagne strip, often with a ruffled edge
Lumache
Tubes · All of Italy
snail-shell tube, curved and pinched at one end
Mezze maniche
Tubes · All of Italy
short wide ridged tube, half a rigatoni
Mezzi rigatoni
Tubes · All of Italy
half-length rigatoni
Orzo
Pastina · All of Italy
grain-shaped pasta the size of a large rice grain
Pastina
Pastina · All of Italy
any tiny pasta for broth; the smallest grade of all
Pennette
Tubes · All of Italy
small penne, ridged, about 3.5 cm
Pennoni
Tubes · All of Italy
large penne, ridged, 1.5 cm across
Pipe rigate
Tubes · All of Italy
curved ridged tube pinched at one end, like a snail shell
Radiatori
Short shapes · All of Italy
squat cylinder with deep fins, like a car radiator
Ravioli
Stuffed · All of Italy
filling sealed between two squares of egg sheet, edges crimped
Rotelle
Short shapes · All of Italy
wagon wheel with spokes
Sedani
Tubes · All of Italy
slightly curved narrow ridged tube
Semi di melone
Pastina · All of Italy
flat oval seeds, like a melon seed
Stelline
Pastina · All of Italy
tiny five- or six-pointed stars with a hole in the centre
Trottole
Short shapes · All of Italy
spinning top, a ribbon wound around a central pin
Barbine
Long strands · All of Italy
Thin strands, often coiled into nests
Boccoli
Short shapes · All of Italy
Short, thick twisted shape
Cencioni
Short shapes · All of Italy
Petal shaped, slightly curved with rough convex side
Fagottini
Stuffed · All of Italy
A 'purse' or bundle of pasta, made from a round of dough gathered into a ball-shaped bundle, often stuffed with ricotta and fresh pear
Fiori
Short shapes · All of Italy
Shaped like a flower
Sacchettoni
Stuffed · All of Italy
Round, similar to fagottini, but also using ravioli stuffing. A small square of pasta is brought around the stuffing and twisted.
Classic plates of All of Italy
Every dish the shape profiles of this region name, with the shape and, where we have it, the sauce.
- Alfabeto in brodoAlphabet pasta · In brodo
- Alphabet soupAlphabet pasta
- Campanelle mac and cheeseCampanelle · Mac and cheese
- Campanelle with sausage and creamCampanelle
- Cavatappi alla vodkaCavatappi
- Cavatappi mac and cheeseCavatappi · Mac and cheese
- Cavatappi saladCavatappi
- Chifferi al pomodoroChifferi · Pomodoro
- Conchiglie al pomodoro e ricottaConchiglie · Pomodoro
- Conchiglie con salsiccia e broccoliConchiglie
- Conchiglioni al fornoConchiglioni · Baked (al forno)
- Conchiglioni ripieni di ricotta e spinaciConchiglioni · Ricotta
- Creste di gallo al fornoCreste di gallo · Baked (al forno)
- Creste di gallo alla boscaiolaCreste di gallo
- Farfalline in brodoFarfalline · In brodo
- Frog eye saladAcini di pepe
- Gemelli al pestoGemelli
- Gemelli con zucchineGemelli
- Gemelli saladGemelli
- Gigli al ragu biancoCampanelle · Meat ragu
- GiouvetsiOrzo
- Gnocchi al burro e salviaGnocchi · Butter and sage
- Gnocchi al gorgonzolaGnocchi
- Gnocchi al pestoGnocchi
- Gnocchi alla romanaGnocchi
- Gnocchi alla sorrentinaGnocchi
- Italian wedding soupAcini di pepe
- Lasagnette ai funghiLasagnette
- Lasagnette al raguLasagnette · Meat ragu
- Lemon orzoOrzo
- Lumache alla salsicciaLumache
- Lumaconi ripieni al fornoLumache · Baked (al forno)
- Macaroni and cheeseChifferi · Mac and cheese
- Mezze maniche al raguMezze maniche · Meat ragu
- Mezze maniche alla carbonaraMezze maniche · Carbonara
- Mezze maniche alla griciaMezze maniche · Gricia
- Mezzi rigatoni al fornoMezzi rigatoni · Baked (al forno)
- Mezzi rigatoni alla griciaMezzi rigatoni · Gricia
- Minestrone con farfallineFarfalline · Minestrone
- Orzo in brodoOrzo · In brodo
- Orzo saladOrzo
- OrzottoOrzo
- Pasta e fagioli con chifferiChifferi · Pasta e fagioli
- Pasta freddaPennette
- Pastina con burro e parmigianoPastina
- Pastina con il parmigianoStelline
- Pastina in brodoAcini di pepe · In brodo
- Pastina with eggPastina
- Pennette al pestoPennette
- Pennette al pomodoroPennette · Pomodoro
- Pennoni al fornoPennoni · Baked (al forno)
- Pennoni al raguPennoni · Meat ragu
- Pipe con salsiccia e pannaPipe rigate
- Pipe rigate alla boscaiolaPipe rigate
- Radiatori al raguRadiatori · Meat ragu
- Radiatori mac and cheeseRadiatori · Mac and cheese
- Radiatori saladRadiatori
- Ravioli di carne al sugoRavioli
- Ravioli di magroRavioli
- Ravioli di pesceRavioli
- Ravioli ricotta e spinaci al burro e salviaRavioli · Butter and sage
- Rotelle al pomodoroRotelle · Pomodoro
- Sedani al raguSedani · Meat ragu
- Sedani rigati al pomodoroSedani · Pomodoro
- Semi di melone in brodoSemi di melone · In brodo
- Shells and cheeseConchiglie
- Stelline in brodoStelline · In brodo
- Stuffed shellsConchiglioni
- Trottole alla boscaiolaTrottole
- Trottole con salsicciaTrottole
- Wagon wheel pasta saladRotelle · Pasta salad
Sources
- A shape belongs to a region by the origin in its record: the Wikipedia list of pasta, the Wikidata item, and the regional cookbooks named on the shape page.
- Italy, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q38.
- Italian cuisine, Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.