Which dried pasta to use?

This is a dried pasta variation of the egg pasta tagliatelle. Slightly thicker than most pasta, fettuccine ribbons take a little longer to cook, and are best served with hearty, robust sauces.

Its pointed shape resembles an old-fashioned quill pen, hence the name (penne translates as ‘feather’ or ‘quill’). Make sure to toss penne in your sauce to fill the tubes.

The traditional pasta of the northern city of Genoa, linguine is a slightly flattened version of spaghetti. Meaning ‘small tongues’, it’s typically served with pesto or small shellfish.

Our modern macaroni is based loosely on the first pastas brought to Sicily by Arab traders. The fine tubes are delicate to eat and match well with cheesy sauces.

With a name meaning ‘shells’, it’s no surprise this pasta is modelled on seashells. The cups fill with sauce, making for delicious individual bites. Also look out for the jumbo-sized version, called conchiglione.

Pasta is often coloured using natural vegetable extracts – parsley or spinach for green, beetroot or tomatoes for red. Together with plain pasta, the colours represent the Italian flag.

Meaning ‘little ears’, these small cup shapes are traditional pasta in southern Italy. Usually made from a fresh pasta dough, they’re always dried before cooking. The white semolina version will take a little longer to cook.

Although farfalle translates from Italian as ‘butterfly’, we know it more commonly as ‘bow tie’ pasta. The pretty shape is functional as it scoops up the sauce, and also captures the Italian celebration of fun in food.

A thicker, heartier version of spaghetti with a hollow core, bucatini is one of Rome’s most popular pastas. It’s usually served with sauces made from cured meats, tomatoes or ricotta.

Dried lasagne sheets are an easy pantry filler, although purists insist lasagne be made from fresh pasta. There’s both an instant version of dried lasagne sheets and a variety that requires pre-cooking.

This pasta gets its name from the ridges on its outside, which help to hold sauce. With a wider diameter than penne, rigatoni can be matched with thicker or chunkier sauces.

Dried pappardelle is a boutique commodity as it’s fragile and hard to transport. The cooking time is short and the ribbons are very delicate. It’s best paired with stews or herb salsas.

Pasta variations range from gluten free to soy, corn, wholemeal, spelt and low GI. The original variation is buckwheat, famous in Italy’s north for 1000 years. Team it with nut sauces and stews.

Finer than spaghetti, they cook quicker and hold sauces better. Best served with simple dressings – olive oil, lemon chunks, marjoram leaves and shaved parmesan is a Tuscan classic.