Asian pasta

• ramen: long, thin noodles, often served as a soup
• soba: short, thin buckwheat noodles
• udon: thick, round wheat noodles
• vermicelli: long, thin rice noodles

Italian pasta

Pasta comes in two main types: fresh pasta fresca and dry pasta.

Fresh pasta includes egg pasta (pasta fresca all'uovo), and pasta made with water only. Filled pasta includes tortellini, ravioli, agnolotti, which are made of egg pasta filled with meat, spinach or ricotta cheese.

Decades ago in Italy, fresh pasta was made at home, or you can buy it at special shops or at supermarkets. But the best is home-made.

Dry pasta is an industrial product, and different types of pasta are of different thicknesses and sizes, and are made to be used in different dishes. The thinner and smaller a pasta is, the quicker it will cook.

Italians have a word for how to cook pasta best: al dente, which means "to the tooth". This means the pasta must not be undercooked - which leaves a taste of uncooked flour - yet it must not be overcooked. The pasta must be able to retain its texture and be softened, yet firm to the bite.

Italian dried pasta is made with water and durum wheat. This is a very hard wheat with a high protein content and it helps to make the pasta firm. Fresh pasta, pasta fatta in casa, is made with normal wheat and eggs. However, there are also types of dried pasta which have egg in them to resemble the taste of fresh pasta, as well as commercial fresh pasta made with a combination of wheat, durum wheat, eggs and water, which helps the pasta to keep longer. Both dried and fresh pasta are appreciated in Italy and used for a wide variety of dishes.

In the process of mass production of pasta, the end product is transported through an oven which dries the dough. With lower quality pasta this process is done relatively quickly, resulting in a darker coloring. High quality pasta is dried much slower and as a result is much lighter in color - and more expensive.

There are over 650 distinct varieties of Italian pasta, as every shape and size has its own name. Some of these are rarely seen outside Italy, while others are common worldwide. Note that the same type of pasta may have different names in different areas of Italy. Here are some of the common shapes:

• bucatini: thick-walled tubes
• capellini: known as angel hair pasta in English; a very fine, fast-cooking pasta
• ditalini: a small, tubed-shaped pasta (can be used in minestrone)
• farfalle: 'bow ties', usually made with egg and/or spinach
• fettuccine: wide flat noodles in varying lengths and widths
• fusilli: narrow corkscrews
• gnocchi: potato or ricotta pasta
• lasagne: a wide flat pasta, used for the classic baked dish
• linguine: long flattened ovals, similar to spaghetti
• cornetti: small maccheroni
• maccheroni: the ubiquitous small curled tubes
• orzo: pasta in the form of large grains of rice.
• pappardelle: a long inch-wide flat pasta with crinkled edges, usually served with a very rich sauce
• penne: long narrow tubes cut diagonally at the ends
• ravioli: square stuffed pasta, often filled with meat or a cheese-based filling
• rigatoni: inch-long ridged tubes, often used in baked dishes
• spaghettini: spaghetti with a small diameter
• spaghetti: the traditional long narrow noodles
• spaghettoni: spaghetti with a large diameter
• tagliatelle: ribbons of pasta, work well with hearty meat-based sauces
• tortellini: a crescent-shaped stuffed pasta
• vermicelli: thin, worm-shaped noodles, used most often in potage (broth)
• paternoster: pasta generally used for minestrone (small maccheroni)
• piombi and fregola: small balls pre-cooked or not about 5 mm