Penne () are an

extruded Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex ...

type of

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an Leavening agent, unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or Eggs as food, eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally on ...

in the shape of tubular pieces with ends cut at an angle. They are usually made from

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

Etymology

''Penne'' is the plural form of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

''penna'' (meaning "

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

", but "

pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

" as well), deriving from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''penna'' (meaning "feather" or "

quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...

"), and is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of the English word "pen". When this shape was created, it was intended to imitate the then-ubiquitous steel nib of

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

and dip pens.

Origins

Penne are one of the few pasta shapes with a certain date of birth: in 1865, Giovanni Battista Capurro, a pasta maker from San Martino d'Albaro (

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

), obtained a patent for a diagonal cutting machine. His invention cut the fresh pasta into a pen shape without crushing it, in a size varying between ''mezze penne'' () and penne ().

Description and variations

In Italy, penne are produced in two main variants: ''penne lisce'' ("smooth") and ''penne rigate'' ("lined"), the latter having ridges on each penna. ''Pennoni'' is a wider version of penne. In English-language contexts, a version is called mostaccioli ("little moustaches") by various manufacturers, which may be either smooth or ridged in texture.

Dishes

Penne is traditionally cooked

al dente In cooking, al dente (, ; ) pasta or rice is cooked to be firm to the bite. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta and involves a brief cooking ...

and its shape makes it particularly adapted for sauces, such as

pesto Pesto (), also known as ''pesto alla genovese'' () or ''pesto genovese'', is an Italian paste made with basil leaves, crushed garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and grated hard cheese such as Parmesan or '' pecorino sardo''. It originated ...

marinara Marinara sauce is a tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. Variations include capers, olives, spices, and a dash of wine. Widely used in Italian-American cuisine, it is known as ''alla marinara'' ('sailor's style' ...

arrabbiata Arrabbiata sauce, known in Italian as ''arrabbiata'' (''arabbiata'' in Romanesco dialect), is a spicy sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, ''peperoncino'', parsley, and extra virgin olive oil. The sauce originates from the Lazio region of Italy, an ...

. The latter has been celebrated several times in Italian movies, notably in

Marco Ferreri Marco Ferreri (11 May 1928 – 9 May 1997) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, who began his career in the 1950s directing three films in Spain, followed by 24 Italian films before his death in 1997. He is considered one of t ...

's ''

La Grande Bouffe ''La Grande Bouffe'' (, English titles ''The Grand Bouffe'' and ''Blow-Out'') is a 1973 French–Italian satirical film directed by Marco Ferreri. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Andréa Ferréol ...

'' and

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...

's ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

''.

Penne alla Salvatore Fiume

According to

Vincenzo Buonassisi Vincenzo Buonassisi (7 January 1918 - 25 January 2004) was an Italian journalist, writer, and gastronome. Early life Buonassisi was born in L'Aquila on 7 January 1918 but grew up in Apulia. He moved with his family to Rome at the age of six ...

Salvatore Fiume Salvatore Fiume (23 October 1915 – 3 June 1997) was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, writer and stage designer. His works are kept in some of the most important museums in the world, among which the Vatican Museums, the Hermitage of ...

won a writer's cooking contest in Gardone with a baked penne rigate dish resembling the

Italian flag The flag of Italy (, ), often referred to as The Tricolour (, ), is a flag featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red, with the green at the hoist side, as defined by Article 12 of the Constitution of the Italian Repub ...

which was later named ''Penne alla Salvatore Fiume''. The dish features butter, olive oil, crushed tomatoes,

oregano Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate climate, temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a ...

parmesan Parmesan (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian Types of cheese#Hard cheese, hard, Types of cheese#Granular, granular cheese produced from Dairy cattle, cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. It is a Grana (cheese), grana-type cheese, along wit ...

mozzarella Mozzarella is a Types of cheese#Semi-soft cheese, semi-soft non-aged cheese prepared using the ('stretched-curd') method with origins from southern Italy. It is prepared with cow's milk or buffalo milk, taking the following names: * or mozz ...

, and

basil Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a hardiness (plants), tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" r ...

References