Regional Pasta

Bigoli

From Venetia we have these rough spaghetti, called bigoli bianchi (white) if they were made using semolina (or semolina and flour in equal amount) and bigoli neri (black) if made with brown flour.
They are made using a trafila (draw-plate) where kneading is put cut in small pieces; under the pressure of a hand-press, the kneading is thrusted through the draw-plate and it goes out in the form of long threads (bigoli, exactly).
Bigoli are flavoured with a variety of sauces, among with there is the duck sauce and that one made of anchovies and onions.

Pizzoccheri

In Valtellina (Lombardy) people prepares this Pasta with buckwheat flour roasted and mixed with wheat meal. Short and dark tagliatelle are obtained that are cooked along with typical alpine vegetables (Savoy cabbages and potatoes and then flavoured with bitto (eccellent cheese from that region).

Tròfie

It's a typical Pasta from Liguria, little dumplings twisted and slender, made of wheat meal, to which is added bran and, sometimes, chestnut meal. This one sweetens dumplings and perfectly pairs with pesto, the typical Ligurian sauce of oil, basil,garlic and parmesan cheese.

Corzetti

Another typical Ligurian Pasta is corzetti, that is so called maybe because the shape reminds the ancient silver coins of the Republic of Genoa: the corazzo. They are made with wheat meal and cut with a particular stamp or hand-made folded like the eight cypher. They are flavoured with melted butter, fresh marjoram and pine-seeds.

Testaroli

Typical Pasta from Lunigiana, between Tuscany and Liguria. They are so called because in the past times they were cooked in wide terracotta, whose name was testi.
They are made of wheat meal and water; Pasta is cut in wide strips and is eaten flavoured with pesto alla genovese

Pisarei

This Pasta comes from the province of Piacenza, Emilia. It's prepared with flour, water and grated bread. Pasta is then reduced to little bits as big as a bean (from here comes the noun pisarei; pisarei are served drained, flavoured with a bean sauce.

Garganelli

They are typical from Romagna; they have the shape of little penne and are made with wheat meal mixed with Parmesan, hen eggs, nutmeg and salt. To make them it's necessary to have a special tool named pettine (comb) on which Pasta is slided before rolling it as a sigarette. Garganelli are flavoured with bacon and tomato sauce or with a fowl's liver ragout.

Strangozzi

This Pasta, also called ceriole, is born in Umbria; it's shape is that of long pierced little macaroni.
They are made of durum wheat meal and salted water. To make the hole it's necessary a small iron tool with a square section (but is good also a knitting needle). They are flavoured with a tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil, or with browned onions, garlic and olive oil.

Orecchiette

There is a wide variety of home-made Pastas in Puglie, but the most popular (or better, known) is orecchiette (little ears); they are made with white meal, durum wheat flour and water; they are formed dragging small pieces of pasta on the rolling-board with the point of a knife, making a kind of small shell, that then will be turned back with the top of the thumb. They are boiled with broccoli or potatoes and are served flavoured with a tomato sauce, garlic and olive oil.

Strozzapreti

From Lucania comes this pasta, like thin bucatini, 2 or 3 inches long, made with fine flour and water. From the kneading are formed sticks as a little finger big. Then they are cut in small pieces 1 inch long and rolled around a knitting needle.

Maccheroni inferrettati

This pasta, also called fusilli in Sicily and maccaruni in Sardinia, is typical from Calabria. It's made of wheat flour, durum wheat meal and water. Cut the kneading into small pieces about 1 inch long and as thick as a pencil; line up two or three pieces and place on them the special small square-sectioned iron tool about 12 inches long; then press with hands on the tool pushing it to and fro rolling pasta around it; finally maccheroni are taken off from the tool with one stroke. Maccheroni are flavoured in different ways according to the local customs: pork and sheep's milk cheese, tomato sauce with olives and capers, garlic, olive oil and chili, tomato sauce and egg plants.

Malloreddus

Malloreddus comes from Sardinia; they are made of durum wheat meal, flour water and saffron; knead until obtain sticks of about 1/5 inch thick, cut them into pieces as big as a bean and pull them through a special round tool named ciuliri (a kind of sieve with the bottom made of thin twisted rushes). They are flavoured with tomato sauce, lamb or kid ragout or game and quarry.