pasta

/ˈpɑstə/

/ˈpɑstə/

Other forms: pastas

Pasta is any Italian style of noodle, including spaghetti, ziti, and macaroni. Your favorite type of pasta might be fettuccine, especially when it's served in a creamy Alfredo sauce.

Pasta refers to the noodle, or to the dish that contains it, like vegetable lasagna or spaghetti carbonara. Most pasta is made from semolina flour and water, and often eggs. The stiff dough is rolled very thin and then cut into shapes or long ribbons. It can be cooked from this soft, fresh state, or (more commonly) dried, packaged, and sold. Pasta is an Italian word (surprise, surprise), from Late Latin, which means "dough or paste."

Definitions of pasta

1. noun

   shaped and dried dough made from flour and water and sometimes egg
   synonyms: alimentary paste

   types:

   bowtie pasta, farfalle

   pasta shaped with scalloped edges and pinched in the middle, suggestive of a bow tie

   noodle

   a ribbonlike strip of pasta

   orzo

   pasta shaped like pearls of barley; frequently prepared with lamb in Greek cuisine

   spaghetti

   pasta in the form of long strings

   spaghettini

   thin spaghetti

   tortellini

   small, ring-shaped pasta stuffed with cheese, spinach, or other fillings

   ziti

   a short, hollow pasta shaped like a smooth tube

   rigatoni

   short, hollow, tube-shaped pasta with ridges

   fedelline

   extremely fine pasta thinner than vermicelli

   linguine, linguini

   pasta in long slender flat strips

   fettuccine, fettuccini

   pasta in flat strips wider than linguine

   vermicelli

   pasta in strings thinner than spaghetti

   macaroni

   pasta in the form of slender tubes

   lasagna, lasagne

   very wide flat strips of pasta

   penne

   pasta in short tubes with diagonally cut ends

   cappelletti, ravioli

   small circular or square cases of dough with savory fillings

   tagliatelle

   pasta cut in narrow ribbons

   manicotti

   large pasta tubes stuffed with chopped meat or mild cheese and baked in tomato sauce

   couscous

   a pasta made in northern Africa of crushed and steamed semolina

   dumpling

   a small ball or strip of boiled or steamed dough

   mostaccioli

   pasta somewhat resembling little moustaches

   egg noodle

   narrow strip of pasta dough made with eggs

   fettuccine Alfredo

   fettuccine in cream sauce with cheese

   gnocchi

   (Italian) small dumplings made of potato or flour or semolina that are boiled or baked and usually served with a sauce or with grated cheese

   matzah ball, matzo ball, matzoh ball

   a Jewish dumpling made of matzo meal; usually served in soup

   won ton, wonton

   a Chinese dumpling filled with spiced minced pork; usually served in soup

   type of:

   food, solid food

   any solid substance (as opposed to liquid) that is used as a source of nourishment
2. noun

   a dish that contains pasta as its main ingredient
   types:

   spaghetti

   spaghetti served with a tomato sauce

   cannelloni

   tubular pasta filled with meat or cheese

   lasagna, lasagne

   a baked dish of layered pasta with sauce and cheese and meat or vegetables

   mac and cheese, macaroni and cheese

   macaroni prepared in a cheese sauce

   type of:

   dish

   a particular item of prepared food