What Is Penne?

Penne is often served with a chunky red sauce.

Penne is a popular type of pasta that is recognizable for its unique, quill-like shape. The name penne comes from the Italian word for pen or quill.

Identification

Penne is cut to resemble a quill.

Penne pasta is about 2 inches long and hollow. Its ends are cut at an angle, giving it a quill-like shape.

Types

Penne rigate has a ridged surface, while penne lisce has a smooth surface. Pennoni is a larger version of penne, and ziti, a close relative to penne, is penne lisce with square ends instead of quill-shaped ends.

Dishes

Popular penne rigate dishes often use chunky red sauces, although penne is versatile enough to stand in for any pasta in most dishes. Penne alla vodka and penne all'arrabbiata are two common dishes that use penne pasta.

Ingredients

Like most standard pastas, penne is traditionally made of fine white flour, eggs and salt.

Pronunciation

Although some people pronounce penne "penny," it is correctly pronounced "pen-nay" or "pen-neh."

References

• Nonna Lina's Kitchen: Italian Ingredient Glossary
• Castello Di Gabbiano: Recipes: Glossary
• The Nibble: Pasta Glossary