The Surprising History of 8 Iconic Pasta Shapes

A stroll down the pasta aisle at your local supermarket presents you with a panoply of pasta shapes: tubular penne, corkscrew-shaped cavatappi, ruffled radiatori. They’re so familiar and classic they feel like they’ve always been around, yet most of them owe their existence to technological innovations from the 1800s that have made them commonplace today. 

The mechanization of long pastas like spaghetti and vermicelli began in the late 16th century, but up until the 19th century, short pasta shapes were cut and shaped exclusively by hand, traditionally by women. The short pastas we find at the grocery store today only appeared at the end of the 19th century, when new types of dies (the perforated plates through which pasta shapes are extruded) capable of producing intricate shapes were invented. 

The use of these bronze and nickel dies, resistant to corrosion from the moisture in the dough, resulted in around 800 redesigned or brand-new pasta shapes, some of which, like penne, have become iconic. Around the same time, the introduction of mechanical indoor drying shortened the drying period for pastas from months (during the Middle Ages) to hours, making the large-scale production of short pastas possible. 

Many of the pasta companies that are grocery-store standbys got their start during this explosion in pasta innovation. In 1889, Filippo De Cecco, whose pasta company still bears his name, invented a device improving upon indoor pasta-drying machines. In 1910 in Parma, where bakers were also pasta producers, Riccardo Barilla transitioned his father’s bakery into a bread and pasta factory, and within 50 years, he overtook both local and national pasta manufacturers to become the leader in Italian pasta production. Pasta factories proliferated in the United States as well; by the early 20th century, there were over 300, including Ronzoni (established in 1915) and San Giorgio (1914). 

So the next time you walk down the supermarket aisle surrounded by a kaleidoscope of pasta shapes, remember the many pasta-makers of yesterday and today who made them possible. After all, their imagination and ingenuity resulted in that perfect bite of pasta for your next dinner — starting with the eight included here.

Rigatoni

Pasta dies producing ridges marked a great leap forward for the industry during the 19th century. Rigatoni, from the Italian word rigare, meaning “to mark with lines,” is a tubular-shaped pasta with ridges on the surface, improving the pasta’s ability to hold sauces and cheese. It is also available with a smooth, unridged surface.

Penne

In 1865, Giovanni Battista Capurro, a pasta-maker from near Genoa, patented a machine capable of cutting penne, meaning “quills,” without flattening the ends. Previously, penne were cut manually with scissors, and had irregular jagged ends. Though they’re meant to resemble a fountain pen, penne collect sauce in their barrels instead of ink, making them a delicious fit for recipes like penne alla vodka.

Ditalini

Short, tubular ditalini (meaning “thimbles” in Italian) are a short, tubular pasta shape with equal diameter and length. This 19th-century creation has inspired a range of variations, such as the slightly larger ditali and the much larger ditaloni. Ditalini and its variants are available in both smooth and ridged versions. They are great in soups and salads as well as in hearty recipes like pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas) and pasta e fagioli (pasta with beans).

Ruote pazze

In the early 20th century, Benedetto Cavalieri persuaded a pasta-maker to design this wheel-shaped pasta – specifically calling for spokes of three different thicknesses, a unique form that caused problems during the pasta-drying phase. According to lore, the pasta-maker put his hands on his head in a gesture of exasperation while pointing out that perhaps the wheel was the wrong shape. Since then, ruote pazze (“crazy wheels”) have been a pasta success both in Italy and abroad. Their playful shape make them especially fun to eat in recipes like pasta with broccolini, peas, and pancetta.

Fusilli

In 1924, Guido and Aurelio Tanzi, Italian immigrants living in New York, developed the fusilla, a machine that manufactured this short, corkscrew-shaped pasta on an industrial scale. Fusilli, from the Neapolitan word for “spindle,” were previously made by hand with a metal reed, and its limited production made it the preferred pasta shape of the upper class. Fusilli’s twisting shape, which looks like the double helix of a strand of DNA, makes it the optimal shape for gripping hearty, creamy sauces and thick, nutty pestos.

Radiatori

Believed to have been invented between World War I and World War II, radiatori, or “radiators,” mimic the design of heating fixtures. Like home radiators, the wavy ridges increase the surface area, making this pasta shape ideal for gripping sauce, while also lending a satisfying and fun texture to dishes like chicken piccata pasta.

Cavatappi

Created by accident in the 1960s by Barilla, cavatappi (Italian for “corkscrew”) came about when pasta dies were mistakenly made with spiral rather than straight lines. (Fun fact: The twirly pasta shape was originally named cellentani, after Adriano Celentano, an Italian pop singer.) The ridges are ideal for rich cheesy sauces, giving a fun twist to macaroni and cheese.

Cascatelli

In 2019, Dan Pashman, creator and host of The Sporkful podcast, wanted to create a pasta shape with the optimal ability to stay on a fork, grip sauce, and retain a firm texture, so he set out to design a wholly new shape. His multiyear quest resulted in the creation of cascatelli, or “little waterfalls” in Italian. This pasta’s curved shape includes a sauce trough running down the back, helping each pasta grip just the right amount of sauce. Try it in our seafood fra diavolo, where its curvaceous shape plays off the shape of the shrimp.