The Many Faces of Pasta

All pasta starts out with the same ingredients but each type achieves its own unique qualities. There are between 400 and 600 styles of pasta. I will not attempt to discuss all of them -- many types you will not likely ever see outside of Italy.  The basic recipe is very simple flour, egg, salt, water and oil. Once the pasta is made, the creativity really kicks in. It is interesting to discover that many were designed for specific sauces, but can be interchanged if desired.  For simplicity’s sake, let’s break pasta down into six styles

1.  Long Pasta.  This includes what most of us know as Angle Hair, a translation from capellini d’angelo. Others include fettuccine, which is flat, and the assorted spaghetti -- thick or thin -- with a whole in the middle and a few more.
2. Ribbon pasta is wider, flat sheets, such as lasagna, and often used in al forno dishes (baked in the oven).
3. Tubular pasta. These come in small and large forms. The most famous in the U.S. is macaroni. What made it famous is the classic comfort food and favorite of children, Mac and Cheese, but macaroni is used in soups and many meat dishes.  Other popular tubular pastas are penne and manicotti (little muffs). Penne is used in cold salads and hot dishes with vegetables and meats. Manicotti is stuffed with cheeses and served with a sauce, usually a tomato-based sauce.
4. Special Shapes.  Here, bowtie (or tripolini) comes to mind first. We see it in salads and is often paired with pesto sauce. Shells, both large and small, are in this group, along with wheels, rotini and many of the unusual shapes we see.  Some have no specific purpose, other than what strikes the cook’s fancy that day. 
5. Soup pasta. These are designed to fit well in the spoon and are small to mix well into broth.  Remember alphabet soup? There are many other shapes if you will just look for them in the store.
6. Stuffed pasta. Ravioli and Tortellini are the most well known here. They can be stuffed with meat, cheese, and/or vegetables. If you’re not making these yourself, you can find fresh versions in better grocery stores or frozen. Once you master making pasta, ravioli is not very complicated. It can be fun, especially as a family or group effort.   

     Cooking the right amount of pasta can be very challenging, so here are a few guidelines. For medium pasta shapes such as macaroni, rotini, bowtie, penne, ziti, etc., 8 oz. by weight will yield 4 cups of cooked pasta. For 8 oz. of uncooked long pasta or a 1-1/2 inch diameter bunch of spaghetti, linguine, vermicelli and fettuccine will yield 4 cups of cooked pasta. With egg noodles, 8 oz. uncooked pasta produces 2 1/2 cups cooked. To reheat pasta, put 4 oz. cold pasta in a colander or strainer and submerge in boiling water for 40 to 60 seconds. Lift to drain and toss with sauce.

     Now for sauces: there are four basic sauce types.  Cream-based sauces bring a rich, heavy flavor such as Alfredo and Carbonara. Tomato-based sauces include marinara, Bolognese and vodka sauces. Wine-based sauces are usually fortified with Marsala or Madeira.  The last type is a no-cook style: pesto.

     Choose a sauce that matches your pasta or vice-versa. Angel Hair and vermicelli are the lightest and most delicate. Choose a soft, thin sauce that will not tear up the pasta when mixed. Combine at the last moment before serving. The lightest sauce I know simply involves melting butter and sautéing chopped garlic until it starts to sweat (releases its aroma). Do not let the garlic brown. Toss with pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (fresh grated, of course) and for a final touch top with fresh chopped basil or parsley.  As a side dish or main course this is balisamo.

     TIP:  Serve your pasta dish on a warm plate or in a rimmed soup bowl placed on top of a plate for presentation.