# Pasta Noodles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [April 27, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890 "2021-04-27T23:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/1 "2021-04-27T23:59:51Z")
Italian food uses simple ingredients to make delicious traditional meals. Despite its popularity, Italians do not always welcome changes to tried-and-true techniques which evoke memories of family and feasts. Craving pasta in a hurry, I made a quick but delicious sauce and some noodles. An open box looked like it contained enough noodles but when I added them to the boiling water I felt it wasn’t enough. So I added a second type of noodle from a bag. And it struck me that you never see a mix of different pastas. **Do any authentic Italian dishes use more than one type of pasta?** This reminded me of an American who was recently promoting his new type of pasta noodle over the radio. He had decided that no traditional noodle shape was good with holding chunky, creamy and meaty sauces. He supposedly invented a new shape which he claimed was more versatile, but was only able to produce moderate quantities- not in a big rush to try it. **When was the last popular noodle made? What is the most versatile pasta shape?** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/2 "2021-04-28T00:26:05Z")
Well, this new shape just showed up in the news lately. Looks pretty good. Is that the one you’re thinking of? > **[Get Lost in the Sauce With a Brand New Pasta Shape, Cascatelli](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/get-lost-sauce-and-sink-your-teeth-new-pasta-shape-cascatelli-180977399/)** > > The ruffled, waterfall-inspired noodle resembles a combination of mafaldine and bucatini ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/3 "2021-04-28T00:27:57Z")
I can’t think of of any specific dish specifying multiple forms of pasta offhand, but I doubt there would be many. Pasta is mostly a side dish that is chosen for a variety of sauce or seasonings, not so much matched with a large piece of meat that gets associated with American style dishes, and not necessarily drowning in sauce. Spaghetti is probably the most commonly named pasta for dishes but I’m sure the same dishes are made with similar shapes plenty of times. Some shapes have a filling to make the dish, such as ravioli or tortellini, and stuffed shells, and then sheets are used for lasagna. I think the most versatile pasta shape is the sheet because so many other forms can be made from it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/4 "2021-04-28T00:41:01Z")
As for the question about mixing pastas, there is pasta mista (which means “mixed pasta”), so the concept does exist: > **[ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA - Pasta Mista - Chef's Mandala](https://chefsmandala.com/archaeology-pasta-pasta-mista/)** > > Everything to know about pasta mista, including origins, best sauce pairings, recipes etc. from Chef's Mandala, a high quality gourmet import company. And another article with a recipe, too. Pasta mista comes from Naples: > **[Filling and thrifty: Tom Hunt's recipe for pasta mista frittata | Waste not](https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jun/27/tom-hunt-recipe-for-pasta-mista-frittata-waste-not)** > > Grab all those odds and ends of pasta, cook them together in one pot, then fry them up into this cheerful, multi-textured meal ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/5 "2021-04-28T01:54:20Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > can’t think of of any specific dish specifying multiple forms of pasta offhand, but I doubt there would be many. Pasta is mostly a side dish The OP asked about **authentic Italian dishes** , not American. “Primo” is pasta, after the side dishes (‘before pasta’): unless you’re rich, you authentically get the calories in the main course, and the secondo (meat) is after you’ve filled up. The Roman state wasn’t providing ‘beef and circuses’ to the citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/6 "2021-04-28T02:20:16Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > And it struck me that you never see a mix of different pastas I think there’s a few reasons for that. We Italians tend to keep plenty of pasta on hand and since everyone has their own preference, that’s the shape they have. Unless there’s some specific reason to have a different shape, I usually have two or three bags of the one I like. If I run out, I have another bag of the same. Second (and third) mixing and matching different shapes often results in one of them being over or under cooked and even if it doesn’t, it certainly makes for an odd texture. Eating a bowl full of macaroni and penne or mostaccioli and farfalle…it’s like someone stuffing half a hamburger in your taco. It’s all the same meat, and it’s certainly edible, but it’s weird. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/7 "2021-04-28T02:25:15Z")
My poor wording. I didn’t mean to call pasta a side dish, I was trying to point out that it’s not usually an American style dish with a ton of meat and a gallon of sauce covering the pasta. We’ve also had threads discussing what ‘authentic’ means in this context, and it doesn’t mean much. There are authentic dishes and styles in Italy and used by Italians all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/8 "2021-04-28T02:29:51Z")
It doesn’t work. Different shapes and thicknesses have different cooking times. You’ll never get the whole pot al dente. Then think about eating it - you don’t eat one spaghetti strand or one elbow macaroni, you eat a twirled forkful or a spoonful. No way to make that work with multiple shapes. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/9 "2021-04-28T02:44:21Z")
**Do any authentic Italian dishes use more than one type of pasta?** is a fun question and one I can’t answer, not being Italian or even knowledgeable about Italian cuisine. (I have 2 Marcella Hazan cookbooks and the Silver Spoon, and I spent a week of gastronomic bliss in Italy once, that is my full resume vis-a-vis Italian cuisine.) So naturally, having established that I am unqualified, here are my answers anyway, at a ninety-degree angle from the question: 1. Not exactly the same as what the OP is asking, but I vaguely recall that there is an Italian dish, or cooking method, that uses the irregular scraps from making a batch of homemade pasta. “Maltagliati” if Google is not leading me astray. 2. Answers here seem to assume that mixed pastas would not work because they’d be cooked together and the result would be under/over cooked for different types. But why not cook them separately and then mix them? There is an Egyptian dish, koshari, that kind of speaks to this. It layers lentils, rice, and macaroni in one dish, but you don’t try to cook them all together. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/10 "2021-04-28T02:49:21Z")
Is nobody reading my cites that say yes, combining shapes exists in Italian cooking, specifically in Naples, as a way to use up leftover pasta, though now you can even buy premixed shapes? Here’s one more: > **[From Trash Pasta to Neapolitan Treasure](https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2010/05/from-trash-pasta-to-neapolitan-treasure/56315/)** > > Save that broken spaghetti at the bottom of the box for munnezzaglia. It means "all garbage," but it sure doesn't taste like it. > **[Munnezzaglia e Ceci — Faith Willinger](https://www.faithwillinger.com/recipes/munnezzaglia-e-ceci)** > > In Naples, pasta was once sold by weight, not in packages.  At the end of the day vendors were left with broken pieces and small amounts of various shapes.  They were all combined and sold as munnezzaglia, dialect for "all garbage". ... That chickpea dish and using it in pasta e fagioli seems to be the most common uses I could find. I know my friend who was born and grew up in Naples mixes shapes for his paste e fagioli. I’ll have to ask him about the chickpea dish. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/11 "2021-04-28T03:02:28Z")
Just coming in to share pasta porn how to make [29 different types of handmade pasta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew-3-8itpjc). I learned how easy it is to make Orecchiette by hand. This [Pasta Granny is even more impressive at Orecchiette](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-FhKlzPvdI) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/12 "2021-04-28T03:19:34Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > No way to make that work with multiple shapes. Sure there is and people do it all the time, all over the world. I keep a container of leftover dry pasta that is used in what we called “crazy pasta.” So long as the pasta types are all within a category, they should all cook about the same. You don’t mix bucatini with elbow, of course, but cavatelli, penne and fusilli all work mixed together. They also work with both red sauce and light, fresh sauces. May not be “authentic Italian,” but I’ll bet as lot of Italians have done the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/13 "2021-04-28T04:00:21Z")
I know I mentioned all the pastas cooking at different rates, but I grew up with a 100% Italian, off the boat, Nana who overcooked _everything_. Her pasta of choice was rigatoni that was cooked to the point that it was flat/collapsed instead of round so that’s how I like it. Luckily that means if I do need to cook two types of pasta at once, having one of them overcooked, as long as it isn’t starting to fall apart, is just fine with me. My mom used to joke that when her and my dad were dating, they could go over to his house at 3 in the afternoon and walk in to the smell of broccoli cooking even though they wouldn’t be eating for an hour or two. It’s, no doubt, the reason that I don’t like al dente pasta. Might as well just eat it right out of the bag. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/14 "2021-04-28T05:07:58Z")
Although I didn’t start out planning to use two noodle types, it worked out very well. Since there is no legal requirement to _put both types in boiling water at the same time_, it is easy to account for any difference in boiling time (assuming the package directions are good, or one makes fresh pasta enough to know the cooking time, more or less). ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/15 "2021-04-28T13:53:40Z")
Wait. If everyone is allowed their own pasta preference, you saying families go to the trouble to boil more than one pot of water at a time? Making pasta for one is easy. Indulging everyone? Make more than one kind of pasta in the same pot! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/16 "2021-04-28T13:53:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Is nobody reading my cites that say yes, combining shapes exists in Italian cooking, specifically in Naples, as a way to use up leftover pasta, though now you can even buy premixed shapes? Here’s one more: Many Italian restaurants in Germany have a dish called Tris di Pasta (sometimes also called Combinazione), mostly with Spaghetti, Fusili and Penne Rigati. I don’t know if it’s authentic Italian or a “German” Italian dish, but at least most Italian restaurants here have Italian owners and cooks. ETA: and like **Dr\_Paprika** said, cooking pasta with different cooking times is ridiculously easy. Sometimes I mix leftover Spaghetti and Tagliatelle, so I set the timer to 9 minutes for the Spaghetti, put them into the water first and put in the Tagliatelle (which need 6 minutes) 3 minutes later. Works every time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/17 "2021-04-28T14:27:06Z")
In one of the links I was looking at (but didn’t post), the chef actually said the different cooking times were a plus for her version of chickpeas with mixed pasta, in that it provided a wider range of textures than all the pastas cooked to their particular timing. Actually, I found it: > **[Yes, You Can Mix Pasta Shapes—Here's How](https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/inside-our-kitchen/article/mix-up-pasta-shapes)** > > Who says you can only use one pasta shape at a time? Cook 'em all together, and you've got pasta mista, a chickpea-sauced Italian staple > But wait: Doesn’t conventional wisdom say that different pasta shapes cook at different times? How can you just throw them all in the same pot? > “That’s what makes it interesting,” says Whims. " **Some parts are more al dente, and some less**." We like the way this woman thinks. (In fact, after spending a few hours in the kitchen with Whims, we love pretty much everything about her.) Do note there are still some guidelines such that the shapes do have to finish within a couple minutes of each other, so don’t use especially thick shapes. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/18 "2021-04-28T16:13:18Z")
I was reading a cookbook by a well-known Italian restauranteur. Was talking about how he’d found Italian fishermen eating raw fish fresh on the boat. Called it Italian sushi. Somehow this escaped the notice of the thousands of people who traversed Italy collecting recipes, celebrating tradition and codifying generational recipes for their cultural and gastronomic value. Less generous people might say this Italian invention of sushi was somehow inauthentic. A weak excuse to flog fish. If it was a thing, wouldn’t regional restaurants already offer it? I have no doubt many housewives are parsiminonious and use leftover pasta scraps in lasagnas or elsewhere - soups, salads, yada. But is there a restaurant in Italy that serves a meal with multiple noodles? It seems Italian restaurants in Germany do. I’ve never seen it. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/19 "2021-04-28T16:33:26Z")
> **[Crudo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crudo)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > In Italian, crudo \[ˈkruːdo\] means "raw". In Italian cuisine, this word can be used with a lot of food: pesce crudo means "raw fish", and carne cruda means "raw meat", similar to steak tartare. > > This Italian cuisine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. It’s definitely a thing, but more suited to a restaurant than the home cook. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890/20 "2021-04-28T18:04:25Z")
Why does it matter whether an aspect of a cuisine is only served at home or also at a restaurant? They are both “authentic” expressions of a local cuisine, if authenticity is what you’re wondering about. Perhaps even moreso. I’m more cuious about home cooking than restaurant cooking when it comes to regional cuisines. But, yes, if you google restaurant menus in Italy, it can be found. Here’s a pic of the dish from a restaurant in Aversa, Italy: > **[Aversa, Italy 2024: Best Places to Visit - Tripadvisor](https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Tourism-g804150-Aversa_Province_of_Caserta_Campania-Vacations.html)** > > Aversa Tourism: Tripadvisor has 29,144 reviews of Aversa Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Aversa holiday resource. Or here it is on another menu in Fiumicino, just SW of Rome. > **[The 10 Best Restaurants in Fiumicino 2024 | TheFork](https://www.thefork.com/restaurants/fiumicino-c171098#churn_redirect=Al%20NaSoSi)** > > Book the best restaurants in Fiumicino. Find diner reviews, menus, pricing and opening hours at the top places to eat in Fiumicino. > Munnezzaglia e cannellini con cozze e peperoncino > €9 > Munnezzaglia di grano duro, cannellini, cozze, olio EVO, aglio, prezzemolo, pachino, peperoncino. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pasta-noodles/940890.md?page=2)