Become an Italian food expert with my pasta information pages...

The pasta information here is designed to give you all the knowledge you might ever need about Italy's favourite ingredient.

Just click the blue links or scroll down to the full 'pasta information menu' below. You can learn:

• Which sauces suit different pastas... over on my pasta tips page

• All about the different types of pasta with my pasta shape A-Z

• How to plan a fun feast or party via this fun shaped pasta page

• How different pasta shapes get their names.

Within these pages you’ll find a treasure-trove of Italian pasta knowledge. Learning this has been a fun education for me, so I hope you’ll find it eye-opening (and mouth watering) too.

For example...

• Did you know that seafood pasta dishes are usually served with long pasta?

• What about the Italian word for ‘small moustaches’? (It's ‘mostaccioli’ and it describes a type of pasta that, when served, usually leads to some very mucky children’s faces!)

• Could you explain to guests or restaurant buddies how spaghetti, spaghettini and spaghettoni compare? Read this and you’ll soon be impressing your fellow diners!

Pasta Information Pages - your full menu

Different types of pasta: an A-Z guide

From amori and barbina to vermicelli and ziti, find out how these pasta shapes differ, how to recognise them, and what their Italian names really mean.

Top 10 pasta tips for amateur cooks

Aimed squarely at pasta beginners but including useful info for cooks of every level, these pasta tips include advice on matching pasta with the right sauce, how to boil pasta right, dealing with fresh basil, cheese politics (‘to grate or not to grate’) and much more.

Names of pasta explained

Do you know your spaghettini from your spaghettini and spaghettoni? You soon will with my easy-to-understanding pasta naming guide.

Fun shaped pasta

Planning a kids’ party? Want to serve up some super- appropriate pasta for a special guest? This fun shaped pasta page is designed to help. From little girls’ ‘ringlet’ pasta, to shapes for bell ringers, bankers and wine connoisseurs, they’re all here for your viewing pleasure.

Pictures of pasta

Looking for pictures of pasta to put on your blog, or even use in your school homework? This selection represents just a few of my foodie favourites, all taken from the pages of Pasta Recipes Made Easy.

Pasta Recipe Directory

This quick-click page is designed to help you find exactly the pasta recipe you need without any fuss.

For even more pasta recipes, pasta facts, cooking tips and articles, subscribe to my monthly Pastastic! newsletter. Aimed at true pasta obsessives, this inbox offering is packed with info, costs nothing, and you'll receive my FREE '5 Simple Starters' e-book when you sign up!