With more than 600 known pasta shapes produced across Italy, there’s far more to pasta than spaghetti and penne. Each shape has been designed with a purpose, from catching rich meat ragùs to holding delicate broths or creamy sauces. While the ingredients may be similar, the shape of the pasta can dramatically affect the texture and overall eating experience.
Pasta can be grouped into several broad categories: long pasta includes familiar strands such as spaghetti, linguine and tagliatelle, while tube-shaped varieties like rigatoni, penne and paccheri are ideal for hearty sauces. Short-cut and shaped pastas, including fusilli, farfalle and conchiglie, are designed to trap sauce in their twists, folds and ridges. There are also tiny pasta shapes known as pastina, sheet pasta such as lasagne, regional specialities unique to different parts of Italy, and stuffed pastas like ravioli and tortellini. Understanding the different types can help you choose the perfect pasta for every dish.
You may also be interested in the Good Food team's technique on how to cook pasta, and find further inspiration in our collection of pasta recipes.
Long pasta
Long pasta shapes are among the most recognisable and are designed to pair with everything from light olive oil sauces to rich ragùs. The thickness and texture of each shape helps determine which sauces work best.
Spaghetti
Perhaps the world's best-known pasta shape, spaghetti consists of long, thin strands made from durum wheat. The Italian word, “spago” translates to string. Originating in Naples, its versatility makes it suitable for everything from tomato sauces and seafood dishes to classic carbonara and cacio e pepe. Ironically the globally famed dish, spaghetti bolognese doesn’t exist in traditional Italian cooking as it contradicts the principle of pairing the best shaped pasta to suit the sauce – a short, tubular pasta, such as penne would work better to pick up pieces of meat and vegetable.
Linguine
Slightly flattened rather than perfectly round, linguine originates from Liguria and is traditionally served with pesto. The word linguine translates as little tongues, and its broader surface area works particularly well with lighter cream-based dishes and seafood sauces, as in quick seafood linguine.
Tagliatelle
One of Italy's classic egg pastas, tagliatelle is a long ribbon shape from Emilia-Romagna. It's most famously paired with slow-cooked meat ragù, which clings beautifully to the wide strands.
Fettuccine
A flat ribbon pasta traditionally made with egg, fettuccine is slightly wider than tagliatelle. Its broad surface makes it ideal for rich sauces, particularly creamy dishes such as alfredo sauce.
Pappardelle
Among the widest ribbon pastas, pappardelle is particularly suited to hearty sauces featuring game, mushrooms or slow-cooked meats. The broad ribbons provide plenty of surface area for robust flavours. Pick from a range of Good Food’s pappardelle recipes.
Bucatini
Bucatini resembles thick spaghetti but features a hollow centre running through each strand, a bit like a drinking straw. The tube-like shape helps trap sauce, making it particularly popular with rich tomato-based dishes such as bucatini all'Amatriciana. Traditionally, it is also used to line a timballo.
Mafaldine
Named after Princess Mafalda of Savoy, mafaldine consists of long ribbons with decorative ruffled edges. The wavy shape catches sauces well and pairs particularly nicely with cheese-based or rich meat sauces, such as one-pot creamy nduja pasta.
Capellini or angel hair
Capellini, also known as angel hair (capelli d’angelo), is an extremely thin, delicate variety of long pasta that resembles spaghetti. It cooks quickly and is best paired with light sauces, fresh tomatoes, simple olive oil dressings, or used broken up into pieces to slightly thicken soups.
Pici
Originating in Tuscany, pici is a thick, hand-rolled pasta that resembles fat, rustic spaghetti. Its chewy texture makes it ideal for robust sauces featuring garlic, breadcrumbs or slow-cooked meats.
Vermicelli
Meaning "little worms" in Italian, vermicelli is a thin, round pasta similar to spaghetti but slightly finer. It works well in soups and lighter pasta dishes, such as vermicelli noodle & beef salad.
Trenette
A traditional Ligurian pasta similar to linguine, trenette is closely associated with pesto Genovese and green beans. It's a regional favourite that remains an important part of northern Italian cooking.
Bigoli
Originating in the Veneto region, bigoli is a thick, coarse-textured wholewheat pasta. Its rough surface makes it particularly good at holding rich sauces, especially those featuring anchovies or slow-cooked onions.
Tubes and cylinders
Tube-shaped pastas are designed to capture sauce both inside and out. Many feature ridges that help cling to hearty meat sauces, baked dishes and rich vegetable ragùs.
Rigatoni
Large ridged tubes with straight-cut ends, rigatoni is one of the most versatile pasta shapes. The ridges and hollow centre make it ideal for chunky sauces and baked pasta dishes, such as rigatoni sausage bake.
Cannelloni
Cannelloni consists of large tubes designed for stuffing. They're typically filled with ingredients such as ricotta, spinach or meat before being baked in sauce. Popular cannelloni recipes include spinach & ricotta cannelloni and beef cannelloni.
Penne
Recognisable by its angled ends, penne is one of the most popular pasta shapes worldwide. Its name translates to pens, and it’s available in both smooth and ridged varieties, it pairs well with tomato, cream and vegetable-based sauces, such as penne all'arrabbiata.
Ziti
A smooth, medium- to large-sized tube pasta traditionally used in baked dishes. Ziti is particularly popular in southern Italian cooking and works well with rich tomato sauces, melted cheese and spicy sauces.
Macaroni or maccheroni
Known in English as macaroni, this small curved tube shape is widely used in baked pasta dishes, soups and pasta salads. It's best known as the pasta used in macaroni cheese.
Paccheri
Originating in Campania, paccheri consists of large tubes that are often served with seafood or rich tomato sauces. Their generous size also makes them suitable for stuffing.
Manicotti
Manica translates to "little sleeve", manicotti are large tubes designed specifically for filling. They're commonly stuffed with cheese or meat before being baked.
Mezze maniche
Translated as "half sleeves", mezze maniche resembles a shorter version of rigatoni. It's one of Italy's most widely used restaurant pasta shapes thanks to its versatility.
Tortiglioni
Similar to rigatoni but featuring deeper spiral grooves, tortiglioni excels at holding thick sauces. It's a favourite for rich ragùs and baked pasta dishes.
Small short-cut pasta (pastina)
Pastina refers to a family of tiny pasta shapes often used in soups, broths and comforting family dishes. Despite their size, these shapes play an important role in Italian cooking.
Orzo
Shaped like large grains of rice, orzo can be served in soups, salads and one-pot dishes. Its versatility means it's often used in place of rice in Mediterranean recipes, such as in this recipe for one-pot tomato orzo.
Fregola
A Sardinian speciality made from toasted semolina dough, fregola consists of small bead-like pasta pearls. Its nutty flavour works particularly well with seafood and smoked foods, such as fregola with smoky aubergine & nduja.
Stelline
Meaning "little stars", stelline is a tiny star-shaped pasta commonly added to broths and soups.
Acini di pepe
These tiny round pasta beads resemble peppercorns. They're frequently used in soups, salads and light broths.
Ditalini pasta
Short tubes traditionally used in soups and pasta e fagioli. Their small size makes them ideal for spoonable dishes.
Anellini
Tiny ring-shaped pasta most closely associated with Sicily, where it's often used in baked pasta dishes.
Twisted and shaped pasta
Twists, folds and curves help these pasta shapes trap sauce, making them particularly versatile for everyday cooking.
Fusilli
One of the most popular shaped pastas, fusilli's corkscrew twists are designed to catch sauce in every bite. Traditionally, they are served with rich meat and cheese sauces, or oily sauces with tuna and spices. It’s fun spring-like shape makes fusilli a particular favourite with children, for recipe inspiration see Good Food’s fusilli pasta recipes.
Rotini
Closely related to fusilli, rotini features tight spirals that hold creamy and tomato-based sauces particularly well.
Farfalle
Known as bow-tie or butterfly pasta, farfalle features pinched centres and fluted edges. It's commonly used with lighter sauces and in pasta salads, such as Good Food’s Mediterranean-style quick and easy pasta sala, with the aim of having pieces of vegetable a similar size to the pasta.
Cavatelli
Small shell-like shapes traditionally served with broccoli, garlic and beans with a simple tomato sauce.
Trecce
Meaning "plaits" or “braids”, trecce features an intricate woven appearance that helps capture sauce within its folds.
Casarecce
Originating in Sicily, casarecce is rolled into a loose scroll shape, or an elongated letter S, with a central open groove that holds sauce exceptionally well.
Lumache
Named after snail shells, lumache features a curved hollow tube-shape with ridges designed to trap chunky sauces.
Conchiglie
Conchiglie is the Italian word for “seashells”. These shell-shaped pastas come in various sizes, with smaller-sized conchiglie used in soup, larger ones served with cheese and speck, and even larger ones (the size of a conch shell) blanched, stuffed and then baked – highlighted in Good Food’s recipe for baked conchiglioni with sausage, sage & butternut squash. Their concave, scoop-like curved pockets make them ideal for holding sauces.
Gigli (campanelle)
An elegant flower-shaped pasta with ruffled edges, often likened to a lily, gigli is also known as campanelle or riccioli (meaning little bells and curls, respectively).
Garganelli
A traditional egg pasta from Emilia-Romagna, garganelli consists of ridged tubes formed by rolling squares of dough around a wooden dowel, and features a noticeable overlapping flap
Cavatappi
Meaning "corkscrew", cavatappi combines a hollow tube with spiral twists, making it particularly effective at holding rich sauces.
Rotelle
Also known as wagon wheels, rotelle's playful shape features a central ring, a ridged outer rim, and spokes. Its unique, kid-friendly shape is highly functional, as the spokes are excellent at catching and holding meat, cream, and vegetable sauces
Radiatori
Named after an old-fashioned, industrial steam radiator, its concentric ridges, central hollow, and ruffled fins are shaped to hold onto as much sauce as possible. Its superior surface area ratio makes it work well with thick, creamy sauces, meaty ragùs, as well as pasta salads
Strascinati
A traditional southern Italian pasta made by dragging small pieces of dough across a work surface to create an irregular shape that's perfect for rustic sauces.
Gemelli
Although it appears to be made from two strands twisted together, gemelli is actually formed from a single strand of dough. Its spiral shape works well with chunky sauces and pasta salads.
Regional specialties
Many of Italy's most distinctive pasta shapes are closely linked to specific regions and local traditions.
Malloreddus
Often called Sardinian gnocchetti, malloreddus is one of Sardinia's best-known pasta shapes. The small, thick ridged shells perfectly trap hearty sauces, and malloreddus is traditionally served with Sardinian pork ragù, made with saffron.
Orecchiette
Meaning "little ears", orecchiette originates from Puglia. The cup-shaped pasta is ideal for catching vegetables and sauces, particularly the classic pairing of broccoli or cime di rapa, which is similar to Good Food’s recipe for orecchiette with anchovies & purple sprouting broccoli.
Trofie
Resembling the shape of wood shavings, this short, twisted Ligurian pasta is traditionally served with pesto Genovese, diced potatoes and green beans.
Fileja
A hand-rolled pasta from the Calabria region is formed around a thin rod (buso) or knitting needle. Its elongated spiral shape is ideal for robust southern Italian sauces.
Busiate
A Sicilian corkscrew-shaped pasta is similar to fileja pasta in that it’s made by wrapping dough around a thin rod (buso) or knitting needle. It's traditionally served with Trapanese pesto, a variation of pesto from the Sicilian city of Trapani, made with Sicilian almonds and fresh tomatoes.
Passatelli
Unlike most pasta, passatelli is made from breadcrumbs, eggs and Parmesan rather than flour. The ingredients are combined into a stiff dough and pressed through a potato ricer or a traditional perforated iron disc, creating thick, rustic, worm-like strands. It's traditionally served in broth and is a specialty of Emilia-Romagna and Marche.
Sheet pasta
Sheet pasta forms the basis of some of Italy's most famous baked dishes and regional specialities.
Lasagne
Perhaps the best known sheet pasta, lasagne consists of broad flat sheets layered with sauces, cheese and fillings before baking. A classic lasagne recipe layers pasta sheets with ground beef in a tomato sauce and white bechamel sauce.
Testaroli
Often described as one of Italy's oldest pasta preparations, testaroli is made from a flour-water-salt batter cooked into large flat rounds, similar to a pancake, before being cut into small diamond or rectangular shapes and briefly softened in hot water. It is native to the Lunigiana region, which bridges Liguria and Tuscany.
Maltagliati
Meaning "badly cut", maltagliati are irregular pieces traditionally made from leftover pasta dough. They're often used to thicken soups and rustic dishes with creamy sauce and rich ragùs, such as maltagliati sausage ragù.
Stuffed pasta
Stuffed pasta combines pasta dough with savoury fillings ranging from cheese and vegetables to meat and seafood.
Ravioli
Ravioli consists of two sheets of pasta sealed around a filling. The word ravioli comes from the old Italian verb, riavvolgere, which simply means "to wrap." Fillings for ravioli vary widely, from ricotta & spinach to pumpkin, mushrooms and meat. With the help of a pasta machine, you can make homemade ravioli.
Tortellini
Small ring-shaped pasta traditionally filled with meat or cheese and served in broth, tortellini is one of Emilia-Romagna's most famous culinary exports. Its unusual shape is inspired by the Roman goddess Venus’s navel. Outside Italy tortellini is commonly filled with a blend of ricotta and Parmesan, in Italy the classic filing is a mix of pork, prosciutto, mortadella and Parmesan.
Cappelletti
Cappelletti translates to “little hats” and is closely related to tortellini, although generally larger and thicker. Cappelletti is another important stuffed pasta shape from Emilia-Romagna and is often served in broth.
Agnolotti
A speciality of Piedmont in northern Italy, agnolotti is typically filled with roasted meat, vegetables or cheese.
Triangoli
A triangular variation of stuffed pasta, triangoli can be filled with a variety of ingredients, although the traditional filling is ricotta and herbs or spinach.
Mezzelune
Meaning "half moons", mezzelune is a crescent-shaped stuffed pasta often filled with vegetarian ingredients, including cheese, kale, spinach, mushrooms or herbs.
Caramelle
Named after wrapped sweets, caramelle pasta is pinched and twisted at both ends to resemble a sweet. Caramelle pasta dough includes eggs and classic fillings include cheese and butternut squash.
Culurgiones
Culurgiones is a Sardinian stuffed pasta with a distinctive hand-braided seam, called spighitta, that resembles an ear of wheat. It is traditionally filled with a potato purée mixed with pecorino, mint, garlic and olive oil.
Fagottini
Meaning "little parcels", fagottini is small pouch-shaped stuffed pasta increasingly seen on modern restaurant menus. It is commonly filled with steamed carrots and green beans mixed with ricotta, onion and olive oil.
Where does pasta come from?
The exact origins of pasta are debated, with similar noodle and dough-based foods appearing in many cultures throughout history. Historians would have us believe that it originally comes from China and that the 14th-century explorer, Marco Polo, introduced it to Italy. However, pasta as we know it today is most closely associated with Italy, where it evolved over centuries into a culinary staple.
What is pasta made of?
Traditional pasta is made from just two ingredients: durum wheat semolina and water. The high-protein durum wheat gives pasta its characteristic bite and helps it hold its shape during cooking. It is sold dried or fresh, ready to cook in salted boiling water. Fresh pasta often contains the addition of eggs, creating a softer, richer dough that's commonly used for shapes such as tagliatelle, pappardelle and stuffed pastas.
So is gnocchi not a type of pasta?
Whether gnocchi is considered pasta depends on who you ask.
In Italian culinary tradition, gnocchi is generally considered a separate category from traditional pasta. While pasta is typically made from wheat flour or semolina, classic gnocchi are soft dumplings made primarily from potatoes, flour and sometimes egg. Nonetheless gnocchi is typically grouped with the primi piatti (first-course starches) alongside pasta, but not necessarily classified as a pasta.
Outside Italy, gnocchi is often grouped with pasta because it's cooked, served and sauced in much the same way. You'll usually find it alongside pasta in supermarkets and on restaurant menus, even if technically it belongs to its own category.
More pasta inspiration
12 pasta recipes with 5-star ratings that you'll make again and again
20 best pasta restaurants in London
source https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/types-of-pasta
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