Reputed to have the best pasta fresca in Italy, the Emilia Romagna region often serves fresh pasta with cream sauces. Another regional variation could be found in Piedmont where butter and black truffles are a common ingredient. Other ingredients vary, from potatoes to ricotta. Special tools are used when making dried pasta. First, the pasta is forced through holes in a die plate and onto sheets for cutting. The next step is drying. Pasta secca is only considered real pasta if it is made in the proper Italian way, slow drying it for upwards of fifty hours in a copper mold, and then in the open air. The rest of the world usually dries pasta in steel molds at extremely high temperatures for short periods of time, resulting in an inferior product. Italians take pride in their method and can be proud of a smoother tasting, quicker cooking pasta that can hold on to its sauce. Shapes of Pasta. The following table maps out the various shapes and forms of pasta Unique Shapes. Name. Description. Translation. Campanelle. Flattened bell shaped pasta with a frilly edge on one end. Little bells. Capunti. Short convex ovals resembling an open empty pea pod. Casarecce. Short lengths rolled into an S shape. From casereccio meaning homemade. Cavatelli. Short, solid lengths. From the verb cavare meaning to hollow. Cencioni. Petal shaped, slightly curved with rough convex side. Little rags. Conchiglie. Seashell shaped. Shells. Conchiglioni. Large, stuffable seashell shaped. Large shells. Corzetti. Flat figure eight stamped. Creste di Galli. Short, curved and ruffled. Cocks combs. Croxetti. Flat coin shaped discs stamped with coats of arms. Little crosses. Fantolioni. Panda shaped bow ties commonly served with boiled olives. Pre packaged pandas. Farfalle. Bow tie or butterfly shaped. Butterflies. Farfallone. Larger bowties. Large butterfly. Fiorentine. Grooved cut tubes. Florentine. Fiori. Shaped like a flower. Little flowers. Foglie dulivo. Shaped like an olive leaf. Olive leaf. Fusilli. Three edged spiral, usually in mixed colors. Many vendors and brands sold as fusilli are two edged. From fusile, archaicdialect form of fucile, meaning rifle. As the inside barrel of a gun is rifled using a similar screw shaped device. Fusilli Bucati. A spring shaped variety of the above. Holed rifles. Gemelli. A single S shaped strand of pasta twisted in a loose spiral. Twins. Gigli. Cone or flower shaped. Lilies. Gnocchi. Round in shape and often made with flour plus potatoes. From the Italian gnocco, meaning a knot in woodGramigna. Short, curled lengths of pasta. Scutch grass more generically, infesting weedLanterne. Curved ridges. Lantern holders. Lumache. Snail shaped. From lumaca, meaning snail. Lumaconi. Jumbo lumache. Large snails. Maltagliati. Flat roughly cut triangles. Badly cut. Mandala. Designed by Philippe Starck in 1. French pasta maker Panzani. Design based on compensating for overcooking. Marille. Designed by Giorgetto Guigiaro in 1. From mare, meaning seaOrecchiette. Bowl or ear shaped pasta. Little ears. Pipe. Larger version of macaroni. Smoking pipes. Quadrefiore. Square with rippled edges. Flower quadrants. Radiatore. Shaped like radiators. Radiator. Ricciolini. Short wide pasta with a 9. From riccio, curly. Ricciutelle. Short spiraled pasta. From riccio, curly. Rotelle. Wagon wheel shaped pasta. Little wheels from ruota wheelRotini. Some vendors and brands are 3 edged and sold as rotini. Spirali. A tube which spirals round. Spirals. Spiralini. More tightly coiled fusilli. Little spirals. Strangolapreti. Rolled across their width. Priest chokers or priest stranglers. Torchio. Torch shaped. Winepress. Trofie. Thin twisted pasta. Tubular Pasta. Name. Description. Translation. Bucatini. Hollow spaghetti. Little holes. Calamarata. Wide ring shaped pasta. Squid also known as calamariCalamaretti. Smaller Calamarata. Cannelloni. Large stuffable tubes. Big pipes or reeds. Cavatappi. Corkscrew shaped macaroni. Corkscrews also known as Cellentani and Spirali. Cellentani. Corkscrew shaped tube. Chifferi. Short and wide macaroni. Ditalini. Short tubes, like elbows but shorter and without a bend. Small fingers. Fideua. Short and thin tubes. Gomito Maccheroni. Bent tubes. Elbow macaroni. Elicoidali. Slightly ribbed tube pasta the ribs are corked as opposed to those on rigatoni. Helicoidal. Fagioloni. Short narrow tube. Pita Pizza on this page. Little beans. Garganelli. Square egg noodle rolled into a tube. Maccheroni. As long as a little finger, usually striped. Maccheroncelli. Hollow pencil shaped pasta. Maltagliati. Short wide pasta with diagonally cut ends. Roughly cut. Manicotti. Large ridged tubes that are stuffed. Sleeves, from the Italian word manica. Mezzani Pasta. Short curved tube. From Mezzo meaning half size. Mezze Penne. Short version of penne. Half pens. Mezze Bombardoni. Short, wide tubes. Half bombards. Mostaccioli.