Any idea what the most popular pasta is?

Any idea what the most popular pasta is?

• Penne is a short quill shaped pasta with little ridges on the outside, designed to make the sauce stick to the pasta, unlike spaghetti (which is translated as ‘thin strings’, which is better suited to lighter sauces such as carbonara).
• If you want to eat like the Italians do, never pair spaghetti with Bolognese sauce because it’s too heavy for this pasta, instead they’ll use a flatter pasta like fettucine or pappardelle. Also, they never break the spaghetti before putting it into the hot water, they cook it whole and then roll it up with a fork to eat. It’s a skill, so you’d better get cooing and practising!
• Fusilli is a short, twisted shape; while rigatoni is a short, fat tubes of pasta with ridges on the outside; and tagliatelle is a flat ribbon of pasta.

One of the Italy’s favourite pasta dishes is spaghetti alla carbonara – this combines spaghetti with a creamy sauce made from egg yolks, cream, milk, cheese and bacon – possibly not a dish for you if you’re counting your calories! – while some of the UK’s most popular Italian pasta dishes are lasagne, ravioli, and spaghetti with meatballs.

The best place to indulge your passion for Italian pasta is in one of the many Italian restaurants in Solihull.

• Limoncello Italian Solihull is based in Shirley and offers simple classics such as Spaghetti al pomodoro (Spaghetti with tomato sauce) to more interesting pasta dishes including their Ravioloni all’astice lime e spinaci con salsa al Limone. It sounds very grand, and it actually is grand! It’s a fresh filled raviolini with lobster, crab and lime in white wine sauce with cherry tomato, spinach and lemon zest.
• Carluccio’s Italian restaurant in Solihull, based in the town centre, offers one of the UK’s favourite pasta dishes – lasagne – as well as other tempting offerings such as Pappardelle Braised Beef Ragu, Seafood Linguine, and Ricotta & Spinach Ravioli.
• Eros in Knowle serves Italian and Greek food and their pasta dishes include Penne Al Forno (an oven baked dish with chicken, mushrooms and peppers in a creamy sauce, topped with mozzarella).
• L’Aragosta Italian restaurant in Solihull is located in Olton – they have a wide range of pasta dishes including Tagliatelle al Salmone (pasta, smoked salmon, a touch of fresh cream, and lemon zest) and Penne Salsiccia (penne pasta with grilled Italian sausage, and a Mediterranean tomato sauce).
• Pizzarella in Dickens Heath is another Italian in Solihull and offers far more than its name suggests including pasta, risotto, salads and sharers.
• Zizzi Italian in Solihull offer a wide range of pasta dishes, with delicious offerings such as Vegan Rainbow Lasagne, Casareccia Pork & Garlic Meatballs, and Crispy Prosciutto Carbonara featuring on their menu.
• Emporio Artari is located in the heart of Touchwood shopping centre and this Italian restaurant in Solihull will tempt you with their choice of fresh pasta dishes including treats such as Parmigiana di Melanzane, which features oven baked layers of fried aubergines with San Marzano tomato sauce, grated mozzarella & parmesan cheese – served with toasted Altamura bread.

If all that has your mouth watering, you know what you need to do – either find a recipe for the perfect pasta dish for you and enjoy preparing a delicious Italian meal, or if you’d rather sit back and relax, just head for one of the Italian restaurants in Solihull and let them do all the hard work.  

PS information correct at the time of writing this article. Menu items may change.

Photo by Eaters Collective on Unsplash