Pasta Shapes

I love my pastas. Every time I traveled I make it a point to try out the pasta dishes. I have seen many shapes and tasted many different pasta dishes.

While reading the other day, I realized there are almost 350 different types of pastas in the world. Wow, it's pretty a lot compared to something that is made out of just water, flour and eggs.

There's fusilli, papperdelle, penne, conchiglie, lasagne sheets, capellini, farfalle, fettuccine, tortellini just to name a few. The name itself can be a mouthful to say.

It got me wondering, how do I pair the correct pasta with the correct sauce?

I always make my own fresh pastas at home. Once I tasted freshly made pasta, I have never purchased dried pastas from the supermarket anymore. I love to experiment with them and so decide to compile information on the different types of pasta shapes and the best sauces that goes with them.

So all of you at home who love your pastas, I hope the following will be helpful as you venture into the past world.......By the way, if you want to learn how to make fresh pastas at home, check out my favorite pasta machine that never fails to help me produce great tasting pastas every time and make me look like  a great pasta chef. Click on Atlas Pasta Maker for my secret pasta dough recipe.....

Lasagne Sheets

Lasagne Sheets

Lasagne are square or rectangular sheets of pasta, which are cooked, interlayered with other ingredients and baked. Lasagne is a great dish for warming the body on a cool evening. Lasagne dishes are tantalizing and tempting, so feed your senses with each and every mouthful.

(Picture and information courtesy of tarladalal.com)





Pappardelle

 

Papardelle

Papardelle are broad bank ribbons and are commonly served with heavy and rich sauces. It was created in Tuscan. Papardelle sulla lepre is a traditional Tuscan favorite and are often served with stewed hare sauce. The broad shape ribbon of the Papardelle can absorb heavy sauces and yet hold their shape well so it will go well with pot roasts.

(Picture courtesy of pastafrescacarmelaocone.it)

Fusilli

Fusilli
Fusilli looks like a thick corkscrew. It matches well with most pasta sauces because the narrow crevices can capture and retain pasta sauces. It also retain it's shape well when soaked in sauces. I love the fusilli. I use it with almost all pasta recipe. I baked the fusilli in casseroles, add it to chicken broth and also add it to my salads.

(Picture courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)

Capellini

The Capellini is also passionately known as "little hairs". It looks like your regular pasta but only very much thinner but slightly thicker than the angel hair pasta.Since it has a very delicate appearance, it is best served with delicate sauces such as consommes or broth. I like to serve it with basil pesto or just toss it with olive and fresh chopped tomatoes. Mmmmmmmm.....it's making my mouth water just writing about it.

(Picture courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)

Conchiglie

Conchiglie
My son call the Conchiglie his sea shells because of it's shape. The Conchiglie usually comes in various sizes. The Cochiglioni are very large Conchiglie and are usually stuffed and baked while the tiny Conchigliette are cook in soups and pasta salads. The Conchiglie hollow centre retails sauces well. I love to use the Conchiglie to replace for macaroni for the conventional macaroni and cheese dish. Give it a try and you will love the interesting twist it gives
(Picture courtesy of.pastafrescacarmelaocone.it)

Tortellini

Tortellini
I have to say my Tortellini is one of my favorite pasta. With an amazing story behind the Tortellini where the shape was inspired by the goddess Venus navel. The Tortellini is traditionally stuffed with cheese, vegetables or meat and are served with light broth or cream sauce. I love to experiment whenever I made the Tortellini. I will usually stuff it with the conventional spinach and ricotta cheese but I also have tried stuffing it with seafood, roasted turkeys and broiled chicken. The taste is heavenly.......
(Picture courtesy of eatathomecooks.com)

Penne

 

 

Penne

One of the most popular shape pasta around because it is able to compliment most sauces, both light and heavy sauces. It also taste great with salads or as baked dishes. It is short and hollowed-out tube with smooth surface efficiently traps pieces of meat and sauces. I love to dish out my Penne with spicy flavourful tomato sauce.

(Picture courtesy of andreasrecipes.com)

Farfalle

Farfalle
The butterfly as it is famously known, the Farfalle is also shaped like a bow tie. Most commonly added to tomato-based sauces or cream sauces. It is also added to pasta salads. My kids love the Farfalle because of it's shape.

(Picture courtesy of gallery.hd.org)

There you have it, some of the different pasta shapes known. Whatever shapes they come in, they definitely make great tasting dishes when cooked and added with the right sauces. Who would expect just by mixing flour, water and egg you can produce many different shapes of pasta.

If you are into cooking, I highly recommend you create the above pastas fresh from home. Use my favorite pasta machine and use my secret pasta dough to dish out great tasting pasta recipes for friends and families. I guarantee you will be the envy of them. Click on Atlas Pasta Machine to find more about how to create great tasting home made fresh pasta.

Bon appetitooooo......Writing this has made me hungry. I'm off to make some pasta right now :)

Making Pasta

Making Pasta With All Shapes and Sizes

Pasta is a widely known food that originate from Italy. As a woman I have always been inspired to try and make my own pasta. However, hearing stories on how easy it is to go wrong when making pasta have prevented me from ever trying. I have friends to have tried and end up with a soggy uninspiring mess.

Well, that was in the past.....

Now I love to make homemade pasta for my families and friends. All thanks to being brave enough to take the first step and never to give up. Most of all thanks to my favorite pasta making machine, the Atlas Pasta Maker and my secret pasta recipe.

As with all the most basic foods the key to cooking good pasta is to choose good quality ingredients. The simpler the food the more important quality becomes. Poor quality can be less easily disguised in a simple pasta dish than in something more elaborate.

Want to know my secret pasta dough recipe? Click on Making Pasta.....

Good quality pasta is made from durum wheat.

Families and friends who have eaten my freshly home made pasta swears by them because the pasta dishes taste more authentic. Even though pastas are made from cheap ingredients, it does not necessarily make your dish cheap. Fresh homemade pasta taste excellent and you do not need to dish out elaborate sauces just to make your dish stand out.


When making pasta, you also need a large pan to cook. I highly recommend avoiding using stainless steel pans because they are not good conductor of heat. It will make cause your pasta to sit in the water long during cooking and your pasta will go soggy.

Always boil your water to a good rolling boil before you add your pasta. Never put a lid on the pan and season your water with salt to prevent your pasta from tasting dull and bland.

Some people like to add oil to the water. They believe that this will stop the pasta sticking together. This is not true, because the oil stays on the surface of the water and does not touch the pasta. But oil can help to prevent the foam that is produced when cooking pasta from boiling over the side of the pan.

After a few minutes of boiling lift out a piece of pasta from the boiling pan and squeeze between the nail of your thumb and forefinger. It should have a slight resistance and is known as al dante.  There is some "bite" left in it. Your pasta is now ready to serve with the sauce of your choice.

Do not be afraid to create your own homemade pasta. It can be done. Learn how I do it with my favorite pasta making machine. Click on Atlas Pasta Maker to start dishing out great tasting pastas for your families and friends.

Start Making Pasta From Home

Make Pasta From Home Is Now A Breeze

The thought of making pasta from home can be quite scary for a lot of people. They have the impression that to make good pasta you will be cooped for hours in the kitchen rolling and kneading the pasta dough.

In the olden days, that may be the case. However with new advances in technology, the pasta machine has gone through many changes to catch up with the change in modern technology. Now, making pasta from home is a snap. All you need is a good quality pasta machine and this is where the Atlas pasta maker comes to the rescue. Why I recommend you the Atlas pasta maker? Because I have been making home-made pasta with it and this pasta machine makes me look like a chef....:)

Ever since I got my pasta machine I have turn into a wonderful Italian chef. I can now dish out great tasting pasta dishes such as macaroni, cannelloni, lasagna and spaghetti. All this is done without having to slave myself in the kitchen for hours. Your family will definitely know the difference between fresh homemade pasta and dry packed pasta. In my family, the homemade pasta wins hands down. It has now become a norm in my household.


Making homemade pasta allows me to be creative. I used to only prepare plain macaroni and cheese. Now I can concoct flavorful recipes with hardly much effort. All thanks to my pasta maker machine. My Atlas Pasta Maker is truly simple to operate and comes with optional attachments.



The basic maker has a handle which you turn as you feed the dough through the machine. To free up your hands, purchase the motor to make preparing pasta faster. With older pasta machines, it took two people to turn the dough into noodles. Today this has gone to a one man operation indeed.

The Atlas pasta machine will quickly become a staple in your kitchen, you won't know how you managed without it before. You will have a kitchen gadget that can be passed down to your children too, they are that sturdy and reliable.

Looking for a pasta maker machine? Click on Atlas Pasta Maker to read my review.