Pasta, form and substance
If liquid soups, and creams do not have their own shape, but take on the shape of the container in which they are contained, pasta is pure form, absolute form, an idea of form that is realized. Because without shape there would be no pasta * at least as we understand it.
'Pasta', literally, is the dough, the magma of water and flour that is waiting to be shaped, to take shape under the expert hands of the sfoglina who 'feel' the heat and shape, stretch, enlarge, cut, fold, stuff, close.
That is the 'pasta', almost a pongo to play with, smearing your hands to create objects.
'Pasta' is also the magma of durum wheat that needs kneading machines, presses, dies to complete its identity. But the Italians call the final works 'pasta', preferring the singular to the plural as if to recall the original unity of the whole. Other languages, such as French, have preferred to distinguish: the singular pàte indicates the set of origin, the plural pàtes the artifacts or drawn ready to end up in the pot.
The variety of types of pasta has always been a feather in the cap of Italian gastronomy, ever since this food item became part of our habits. The recipe books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries already know countless forms, and the names that we find in the texts of the seventeenth century are a tribute to the imagination and creativity of pasta makers.
Experience teaches us that different shapes of pasta, while they may be the same in substance, actually produce different results on a sensory level. Let's leave aside the condiments, which obviously make the difference. We accompany the pasta with only butter and Parmesan cheese (the 'classic' condiment of every pasta, from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century) and try to taste. A forkful of spaghetti won't taste exactly the same as a forkful of macaroni, or dumpling. Chewing a thin spaghetti won't be the same as chewing a big one, and a smooth macaroni won't taste like a striped macaroni. The shape leads to different flavors. But what is taste, if not the substance of food?
P.S. Medieval doctors knew this well, and they attributed the ability to 'express' the nature of food to taste.
Here is a handbook for guessing which pasta shapes to pair with which sauce and how to tell if a fusillo or spaghetti is of quality. Take note!
In Italy, there are a wide variety of pasta shapes, each with unique characteristics and suitable for different types of pasta. The list of pasta shapes is very vast and constantly evolving, with new variations being created over time.
SpaghettiPensFusilliButterfliesRigatoniNoodlesLasagnaOrecchietteLinguineCannelloniShellsPappardelleDumplingsRavioliTortelliniFettuccineStrozzapretiCasarecceCavatelliPaccheriTrofieFingeringRutCappellacciZitiPiciBusiate
This is just a small selection of the pasta shapes found in Italy, but there are many other regional and traditional varieties that you may discover as you travel through the country. Each Italian region has its own pasta specialties, each with an important role in the local cuisine and a unique culinary history.
How do you combine pasta shapes and sauces?Traditional combinations, the result of centuries-old customs, are always a winner. If, however, you are trying some new recipe (perhaps even invented on the spot) keep in mind a few small indications. The gentlest pasta shapes – such as farfalle – love light and fresh sauces, such as the version of cold pasta with vegetables. Robust sauces (ragù, amatricana...) are best with structured pasta shapes, such as tortiglioni or bucatini. Paccheri, ziti and in general large pasta can be appreciated with elegant and consistent sauces. For an everyday pasta, versatile and perfect with quick sauces, but also structured ones, the ideal are the mezze maniche: a wild card in the kitchen. Conchiglie and orecchiette are shapes that collect the sauce – preferably light – inside, while a large pasta calls for a rich and tasty sauce. When in doubt between a smooth pasta or a striped one, use the former for enveloping sauces and the latter for looser sauces.
Ditaloni rigati and beansPasta and legumes, an ancient combination of rural Italy, synonymous with healthy, appetizing and delicious comfort food. The Ditaloni rigati, small in size, compatible with that of legumes, are able to accompany them without stealing each other's role as the main ingredient, blending and retaining the sauce. Perfect, to bring together all the flavors in every bite.
Pasta and beans (pasta e fagioli) is a classic Italian dish, a first course with an unmistakable flavor that’s deeply rooted in rural tradition. While more rustic versions, like our Neapolitan pasta and beans recipe, involve flavoring the dish with pork rind, other variants combine legumes with mollusks to give the dish an intense flavor of the sea, as in our recipe for cicatielli pasta with mussels and beans. A simple, inexpensive dish, then, but one that’s extremely tasty and authentic nevertheless, just like our own recipe for pasta and beans – thick enough to “stand a spoon up in” (the more traditionalists out there claim that this is how to recognize the right consistency: creamy yet hearty at the same time) and rich in flavor, with the guaranteed savory note that comes courtesy of the lard and prosciutto. A classic and comforting Italian dish that warms the soul and is sure to win everyone over with its timeless flavor. Why not try the summer version using fresh legumes, too? Try our pasta and beans recipe and you’ll soon be coming back for more!
INGREDIENTS
Ditaloni rigati pasta 0.75 lb (320 g)Dried Borlotti beans 0.5 lb (200 g)Tomato puree 1 cup (250 g)Lard 3 oz (80 g)Prosciutto crudo 3 oz (80 g)Onions ½ cup (30 g)Celery 1 (30 g)Carrots 1 (30 g)Garlic 1 cloveRosemary 3 sprigsBay leaves 2Extra virgin olive oil ¾ tbsp (10 g)Black pepper to tasteFine salt to taste
PREPARATION
To prepare the pasta and beans, first leave the dried beans to soak overnight. The next day, rinse them, transfer them to a saucepan, cover with plenty of cold water, add 2 bay leaves, and boil them for around 80 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients for the recipe. Start by peeling and finely chopping the onion, celery, and carrot, and then cut the prosciutto and lard into strips. Heat the oil in a pot, add a peeled clove of garlic and the chopped vegetables and fry for around 5 minutes. Then add in the strips of prosciutto and lard and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove the beans from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the vegetable mixture. Next, add a ladleful of the bean cooking water to the mixture, setting the rest of the cooking water aside to use later. Now add the tomato purée to the pot, season with salt moderately, add pepper, and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat, after which time you can add the pasta. Before adding the pasta, take two ladlefuls from the mixture and pour them into a container. Blend using an immersion blender and set the resulting cream aside. Add the ditaloni rigati pasta directly to the pot, cover with the cooking water from the beans, and allow the pasta to cook, stirring from time to time, still over medium heat. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, add the previously blended mixture and the chopped rosemary, then turn off the heat, put the lid on, and leave to rest for 3 minutes. A final sprinkling of black pepper and your pasta and beans dish is ready to be served!
STORAGEYour pasta and beans can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a day. The bean mixture, without the pasta, can be stored for 2-3 days, again in the refrigerator. Not suitable for freezing.
TIPSFinish off your pasta and beans with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of chili pepper for an even more delicious and authentic dish! If you prefer, you could replace the borlotti beans with cannellini beans for a more subtle flavor, or play around with different types of pasta, combining any leftovers you have in the cupboard, for example!
If liquid soups, and creams do not have their own shape, but take on the shape of the container in which they are contained, pasta is pure form, absolute form, an idea of form that is realized. Because without shape there would be no pasta * at least as we understand it.
'Pasta', literally, is the dough, the magma of water and flour that is waiting to be shaped, to take shape under the expert hands of the sfoglina who 'feel' the heat and shape, stretch, enlarge, cut, fold, stuff, close.
That is the 'pasta', almost a pongo to play with, smearing your hands to create objects.
'Pasta' is also the magma of durum wheat that needs kneading machines, presses, dies to complete its identity. But the Italians call the final works 'pasta', preferring the singular to the plural as if to recall the original unity of the whole. Other languages, such as French, have preferred to distinguish: the singular pàte indicates the set of origin, the plural pàtes the artifacts or drawn ready to end up in the pot.
The variety of types of pasta has always been a feather in the cap of Italian gastronomy, ever since this food item became part of our habits. The recipe books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries already know countless forms, and the names that we find in the texts of the seventeenth century are a tribute to the imagination and creativity of pasta makers.
Experience teaches us that different shapes of pasta, while they may be the same in substance, actually produce different results on a sensory level. Let's leave aside the condiments, which obviously make the difference. We accompany the pasta with only butter and Parmesan cheese (the 'classic' condiment of every pasta, from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century) and try to taste. A forkful of spaghetti won't taste exactly the same as a forkful of macaroni, or dumpling. Chewing a thin spaghetti won't be the same as chewing a big one, and a smooth macaroni won't taste like a striped macaroni. The shape leads to different flavors. But what is taste, if not the substance of food?
P.S. Medieval doctors knew this well, and they attributed the ability to 'express' the nature of food to taste.
Here is a handbook for guessing which pasta shapes to pair with which sauce and how to tell if a fusillo or spaghetti is of quality. Take note!
In Italy, there are a wide variety of pasta shapes, each with unique characteristics and suitable for different types of pasta. The list of pasta shapes is very vast and constantly evolving, with new variations being created over time.
Spaghetti
Pens
Fusilli
Butterflies
Rigatoni
Noodles
Lasagna
Orecchiette
Linguine
Cannelloni
Shells
Pappardelle
Dumplings
Ravioli
Tortellini
Fettuccine
Strozzapreti
Casarecce
Cavatelli
Paccheri
Trofie
Fingering
Rut
Cappellacci
Ziti
Pici
Busiate
This is just a small selection of the pasta shapes found in Italy, but there are many other regional and traditional varieties that you may discover as you travel through the country. Each Italian region has its own pasta specialties, each with an important role in the local cuisine and a unique culinary history.
How do you combine pasta shapes and sauces?
Traditional combinations, the result of centuries-old customs, are always a winner. If, however, you are trying some new recipe (perhaps even invented on the spot) keep in mind a few small indications. The gentlest pasta shapes – such as farfalle – love light and fresh sauces, such as the version of cold pasta with vegetables. Robust sauces (ragù, amatricana...) are best with structured pasta shapes, such as tortiglioni or bucatini. Paccheri, ziti and in general large pasta can be appreciated with elegant and consistent sauces. For an everyday pasta, versatile and perfect with quick sauces, but also structured ones, the ideal are the mezze maniche: a wild card in the kitchen. Conchiglie and orecchiette are shapes that collect the sauce – preferably light – inside, while a large pasta calls for a rich and tasty sauce. When in doubt between a smooth pasta or a striped one, use the former for enveloping sauces and the latter for looser sauces.
Ditaloni rigati and beans
Pasta and legumes, an ancient combination of rural Italy, synonymous with healthy, appetizing and delicious comfort food. The Ditaloni rigati, small in size, compatible with that of legumes, are able to accompany them without stealing each other's role as the main ingredient, blending and retaining the sauce. Perfect, to bring together all the flavors in every bite.
Pasta and beans (pasta e fagioli) is a classic Italian dish, a first course with an unmistakable flavor that’s deeply rooted in rural tradition. While more rustic versions, like our Neapolitan pasta and beans recipe, involve flavoring the dish with pork rind, other variants combine legumes with mollusks to give the dish an intense flavor of the sea, as in our recipe for cicatielli pasta with mussels and beans. A simple, inexpensive dish, then, but one that’s extremely tasty and authentic nevertheless, just like our own recipe for pasta and beans – thick enough to “stand a spoon up in” (the more traditionalists out there claim that this is how to recognize the right consistency: creamy yet hearty at the same time) and rich in flavor, with the guaranteed savory note that comes courtesy of the lard and prosciutto. A classic and comforting Italian dish that warms the soul and is sure to win everyone over with its timeless flavor. Why not try the summer version using fresh legumes, too? Try our pasta and beans recipe and you’ll soon be coming back for more!
INGREDIENTS
Ditaloni rigati pasta 0.75 lb (320 g)
Dried Borlotti beans 0.5 lb (200 g)
Tomato puree 1 cup (250 g)
Lard 3 oz (80 g)
Prosciutto crudo 3 oz (80 g)
Onions ½ cup (30 g)
Celery 1 (30 g)
Carrots 1 (30 g)
Garlic 1 clove
Rosemary 3 sprigs
Bay leaves 2
Extra virgin olive oil ¾ tbsp (10 g)
Black pepper to taste
Fine salt to taste
PREPARATION
To prepare the pasta and beans, first leave the dried beans to soak overnight. The next day, rinse them, transfer them to a saucepan, cover with plenty of cold water, add 2 bay leaves, and boil them for around 80 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients for the recipe. Start by peeling and finely chopping the onion, celery, and carrot, and then cut the prosciutto and lard into strips. Heat the oil in a pot, add a peeled clove of garlic and the chopped vegetables and fry for around 5 minutes. Then add in the strips of prosciutto and lard and cook for a couple more minutes. Remove the beans from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the vegetable mixture. Next, add a ladleful of the bean cooking water to the mixture, setting the rest of the cooking water aside to use later. Now add the tomato purée to the pot, season with salt moderately, add pepper, and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat, after which time you can add the pasta. Before adding the pasta, take two ladlefuls from the mixture and pour them into a container. Blend using an immersion blender and set the resulting cream aside. Add the ditaloni rigati pasta directly to the pot, cover with the cooking water from the beans, and allow the pasta to cook, stirring from time to time, still over medium heat. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, add the previously blended mixture and the chopped rosemary, then turn off the heat, put the lid on, and leave to rest for 3 minutes. A final sprinkling of black pepper and your pasta and beans dish is ready to be served!
STORAGE
Your pasta and beans can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a day. The bean mixture, without the pasta, can be stored for 2-3 days, again in the refrigerator. Not suitable for freezing.
TIPS
Finish off your pasta and beans with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of chili pepper for an even more delicious and authentic dish! If you prefer, you could replace the borlotti beans with cannellini beans for a more subtle flavor, or play around with different types of pasta, combining any leftovers you have in the cupboard, for example!
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