pasta

Food made from a dough of durum-wheat flour or semolina, water, and, sometimes egg, and cooked in boiling water. It is usually served with a sauce. Pasta is available either fresh or dried, and comes in a wide variety of shapes. It may be creamy yellow or coloured green with spinach or red with tomato. Pasta has been used in Italian cooking since the Middle Ages, but is now popular in many other countries.

Italian pasta shapes include narrow strands (spaghetti, vermicelli), flat sheets or ribbons (lasagne, tagliatelle, fettucine), shell-shaped (conchiglie, lumache), butterfly-shaped (farfalle), tubular (cannelloni, macaroni, penne), and twisted (fusilli). Some varieties are sold ready stuffed with a meat, cheese, herb, or vegetable filling (ravioli, agnolotti, tortellini). Some types of Far Eastern pasta are made from buckwheat.