Tag: pasta shapes

Scordo Pasta Challenge – Pasta Shape #131 Spaghettini

Scordo Pasta Challenge – Pasta Shape #131 Spaghettini

(photo: clam sauce in pan including chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, and parsley) Why I Would Want to Be Reincarnated as Pasta and the Scordo Pasta Challenge. In many Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, it is believed that when a human dies s/he is reborn into a new body.  You’ll also find the same concept in […]

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Scordo Pasta Challenge – Pasta Shape #102 Penne Lisce

Scordo Pasta Challenge – Pasta Shape #102 Penne Lisce

(photo: penne lisce with tomato sauce, photo taken with iPhone hence grainy picture) Say it slowly, almost in a whisper: “L-I-S-C-E” (doesn’t it sound sexy).  OK, come back to reality now and specifically the Scordo Pasta Challenge.  The word lisce is translated as smooth and part of the exquisite and versatile pasta shape known as penne lisce.  Penne lisce differs […]

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The Geometry of Pasta

The Geometry of Pasta

See Below for Contest and Book Give Away! contest closed You have to admire any book that documents well over 110 authentic Italian pasta sauces and the hundreds of pasta shapes that marry best to a given sauce.  If a book goes further and contains beautifully rendered graphic shapes for each pasta then you have a timeless cookbook that should be […]

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The History of Pasta Shapes: Encyclopedia of Pasta Review

The History of Pasta Shapes: Encyclopedia of Pasta Review

The History of Pasta Shapes – The Italian People and Pasta Just in case you were having sleepless nights concerning the birthplace of pasta, the esteemed food critic, Oretta Zanini de Vita confirms that there were records of pasta in Italy 500 years before Marco Polo returned from China; so pasta was, in fact, invented in Italy.  I’m glad we cleared the […]

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Scordo Pasta Challenge – Eliche Casarecce

Scordo Pasta Challenge – Eliche Casarecce

Spiral pasta gets a bad rap in the United States as the pasta shape is often used in generic, and deli type, “pasta salad” dishes.  Generally, the pasta is overcooked, mushy, and devoid of flavor.

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Scordo Pasta Challenge: #94 Paccheri with Olive Oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Course Ground Pepper

Scordo Pasta Challenge: #94 Paccheri with Olive Oil, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Course Ground Pepper

Paccheri is one of those shapes I wasn’t aware of until I stumbled across it in the Rustichella catalog.  Paccheri is a super variant of rigatoni (without the ridges) and best prepared with chunky sauces (such as a ragu with rabbit, for example).  However, I cooked up a batch of Paccheri and simply added very good extra virgin olive oil, freshly grated Parmigiano […]

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Scordo Pasta Challenge – #149 Trenne w/ Peas, Red Onion, and Garlic

Scordo Pasta Challenge – #149 Trenne w/ Peas, Red Onion, and Garlic

Here we go, the first pasta dish consumed for the Scordo Pasta Challenge or Vincenzo Eats His Way Through Every Pasta Shape Known to Man! #149 Trenne Think of Trenne pasta as the “quill” pasta; that is to say, Trenne are shaped like a writing instrument that is triangular in shape.  Trenne is a more modern and angular version of Penne […]

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