Thetownend.com

Why are there so many versions of pasta?

Fusilli, penne, conchiglioni etc it's all the same apart from the shape.

What's the point?

I know, it's a right penne in the arse.

Different shapes are better suited to different dishes.  You wouldn't make a lasagna with spaghetti or a carbonara with penne.  A mac and cheese for instance is made as such as the macaroni will hold the sauce in its tubular shape.  There are of course types of pasta that will do much the same job as others.

Some shapes are more suited to more liquid dishes which hold the fluid better such as a rotini, some suited to more cheesy dishes which hold the denser consistency such as penne.

I like cannelloni, but it's a bit of a fiddle.

Some are just fun like farfelle.

I keep meaning to have a go at making my own pasta, but it always just seems easier to buy some.

My kids love coloured rotelle.

Ah the action man bow tie...

Never bothered with cannelloni, it is good though.

Alphabetti spaghetti :I'm a complete mofleakin Deak

Do you something sit there and think of puns just to pasta time?

It's all about ravioli.

It's all about farfalle!

Action man bow ties.

I hate to be pici but that sentence doesn't quite make sense.

sometimes*

Why are you so anti-pasta puns anyway?

I hate pasta, might as well eat cardboard.

Has no one told you, you need to boil it first.

I like pasta but not big chunky shapes.

I fucking love pasta. For one because it combines so beautifully with the second best food known to man (i.e. cheese). I'd probably weigh about 3 stone if I didn't eat it.

Tortellini  :I'm a complete mofleakin Deak

Pasta and food should not be mentioned in the same sentence. It's why Italians end up so fat in later years

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I fucking love the stuff but even looking at it makes me gain several pounds

I could kill for a cannelloni right now

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Cannelloni isn't a faff. You can buy pre made tubes. Put frozen spinach in them along with ricotta and then coat in bechemel and cook in the oven. Baddaboom. Pretty much the best food I can imagine that is 'accidentally ' vegetarian.

I've been told to eat more carbs so I'm probably not in the best place to say it, but if you can't enjoy a good pasta dish just put potatoes in the bin and eat pasta instead.

Have you tried the fresh raw pasta, usually in the chilled section of supermarkets? Probably the next best thing to home made stuff. The dried stuff we normally buy is more convenient but not as good.

My Mum used to make lasagne sheets from scratch but as you say it's a fair bit of work kneading the dough. She had a big board, rolling pin and a left-right like Hagler. Tasted wonderful.

Yes I have, but it tends to be more expensive, so I mainly stick to dried....plus it has the advantage of sitting in the cupboard a good while for further use.

I guess it's like making  your own bread, which I used to do...time consuming.

 HT,  the cannelloni thing is like a lot of cooking, when you're doing it for a family, it's easier to be putting in the effort. When you're doing it mainly for yourself, it becomes a bit more functional.

Mix a bit of farfalle and fusilli, Sacla sun-dried tomato pesto (and a shit-load of it at that), bit of creme fraiche, fried onions & mushrooms with some seasoned chicken in there. YUM.

Without doubt the shittest thread in TEF history - and there's been some shockers.

I love pasta, but I've taken up making my own sauces recently rather than buying them (although the Loyd Grossman Tomato + Chilli is still ace). It's bloody easy just to get a bunch of tomatoes, some oil, a pepper and a few chillis and blend it all up into a decent paste, and it feels healthier. Hopefully it is too.

As for shapes, the fresh stuff is the best, ideally Tagiatelle but most things are good. Wholewheat pasta is rubbish though, and I prefer the brown versions of every other carb.

Why is wholewheat pasta rubbish? I love the stuff. So much more texture to it than regular pasta.

The number of variations in pasta is pretty much for the same reason there are so many varieties of Paella in Spain.

Each region has it's own variant that accompanies it's cuisine, so in the South, where my family are from, it can be a thinner variety to accompany stews and such.

The varieties are really endless, if you did a road trip, north to south in Italy, you'd lose count of all the different varieties.

Being from an Italian family though, I'm sick of Pasta. If I go out for a fancy dinner, I will order anything BUT pasta.

Course it is, unless you pump 20 tbsp of sugar into a meal's worth like any and every jarred sauce.

Heinz Alpabetti Spaghetti is good....

Although, apparently lacking in 'h'.