Last updated on October 29, 2023
Penne is one of the most popular types of Italian pasta, originally from Liguria. In Italy we make classic recipes such as penne all'Arrabbiata, alla Carbonara, with Bolognese sauce, and with tomatensaus that we prepare on this page.
Penne is a kind of Italian pasta in the shape of a tube, a few centimeters long, and cut diagonally at the ends.
It is one of the pasta shapes that we love the most in Italy: thanks to its short and hollow shape, the sauce mixes perfectly with the pasta and creates a very pleasant taste for the palate.
In Italy, Penne is also appreciated for being versatile: we think penne combines perfectly with different sauces. The classic recipe is Penne all'Arrabbiata, but it is one of the (few) types of pasta we usually prepare alla Carbonara, and even with vodka such as farfalle.
If it is of good quality, Penne also goes just fine in bianco: which means flavored with just a little olive oil.
On this page we tell you a little about the tradition of Penne in Italy and prepare a simple, quick and excellent dish step by step: Penne with tomato sauce 🍅. Special because we use San Marzano tomatoes, which you can also find very well outside Italy.
In this recipe we prepare a plate of penne rigate with tomato sauce step by step.
We cook the penne al dente in boiling water, salted with coarse salt.
Meanwhile we make the tomato sauce with San Marzano tomatoes, which are very popular in Italy because they do not require long cooking and are very tasty. You can easily find them abroad as peeled tomatoes.
The method: we prepare the pasta and the sauce together, with two pans: the large pot for the pasta, and the pan for the sauce.
At the end of cooking, we combine pasta and sauce to get a «creamier» pasta dish 👌
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Penne Rigate | 6.3 oz | 180 g | |
|
Peeled tomatoes | 14.1 oz | 400 g | |
|
Garlic | 2 cloves | ||
|
Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 2 tablespoons | ||
|
Salt | 1 pinch | ||
|
Basil | 12 leaves |
We calculate for each person an amount of 80 grams: in Italy, this counts as the standard single portion of dry pasta.
This amount is also suitable in relation to the other ingredients of the sauce.
To cook pasta we use 1 US quart / 1 liter of water per 3.5 oz / 100 g of pasta.
Use coarse salt in this amount to salt the cooking water: 3.5 oz / 10 g for every 1 quart / 1 liter of water.
To cook the pasta, we follow the steps of the pasta al dente recipe.
The first step: fill a pot with cold water and warm it up. If you cover the pot with a lid, the water will boil faster. While the water is heating up, we prepare the sauce in a pan.
In Italian we call it 🔊 soffritto: we pour two tablespoons of olive oil into a pan together with one or two cloves of garlic, and heat over low heat.
This is the base that gives the tomato sauce its flavour.
Fry the garlic for a few minutes: the garlic must not burn or turn brown, otherwise the sauce will not have a good flavour.
As an alternative to garlic, many Italian families make sautéed white onions. You can replace one clove of garlic with half an onion.
👉 See also the tomato pasta sauce recipe
Before the garlic turns brown, add the peeled tomatoes.
You can prepare them already cut into a bowl, and then pour them into the pan.
Add a ladle of cooking water to dilute the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and let it boil over low heat; preferably with a lid, in this way the tomato aroma is better preserved in the sauce.
When the water boils, add a handful of coarse salt first. We recommend 0.35 oz / 10 g salt for every 3.5 oz / 100 g of pasta.
As soon as you put in the salt, the water will stop boiling for a moment. Wait until the water boils again before adding the pasta.
After adding the pasta stir it a little while: this prevents the pasta from sticking.
Read also our guide to make the perfect pasta al dente.
When the tomato sauce gets too dry, add a little cooking water. The starch released by the pasta makes the sauce thick and creamy.
Check the instructions on the packaging of the pasta to see how many minutes the pasta ideally needs to be ready.
Of course we don't trust the instructions 🙂 and we check the cooking state of the pasta from time to time. It's especially important if you want pasta al dente.
Is the pasta al dente? Turn off the heat.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the Penne from the pot to the pan with the tomato sauce. Stir the pasta and sauce on medium heat for a few moments.
After putting the penne on the plate, you can add fresh basil and grated cheese to taste: in Italy we usually use Parmigiano, Grana or Pecorino.
Your Penne with tomato sauce is ready. Buon appetito! 🍝
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
Like many other types of Italian pasta, the name 🔊 penne is plural. It is the plural of penna, a single piece of pasta.
With the word penne we Italians indicate:
Pens to write
The feathers of birds
The Penne pasta, of course!
The name of pasta Penne is derived from fountain pens: the slanted cut of the pasta was reminiscent of the shape of the nib of a fountain pen.
Besides the classic Penne, Lisce or Rigate, there are also other types of pens: there are also Pennette and Pennoni. Delicious alternatives that also give us the opportunity to learn the Italian language.
The words to which we add -etto, -etta, -ette are vezzeggiativi (pet name) in Italian, and indicate something smaller than the original. Pennette are smaller than Penne.
As you probably know, words ending in -one, -oni can mean something big: it's the case of Pennoni.
The Italian words we use on this page:
| 🔊 Penne lisce | (literally) smooth Penne |
| 🔊 Penne rigate | Penne with ridges |
| 🔊 Pasta Italiana | Italian pasta |
Curiously, we know exactly the origin of Penne: it was invented in Liguria in 1865. Its inventor is Giovanni Battista Capurro, a pasta manufacturer from Genoa, who registered the patent that year for a machine that cuts pasta with an bevel cut.
👉 Capurro's innovation was that the pasta could be cut at the ends without crushing it, preserving its tube shape.
Penne therefore originally comes from Liguria, in Northern Italy; however, it spread so rapidly throughout the peninsula that few in Italy really know its origin.
Today it is a common type of pasta sold by all major pasta brands, and of course also by artisanal pasta producers throughout Italy.
Liguria is known for many other types of pasta, which are traditionally associated with this region:
Trofie is the most famous type of pasta typical of Liguria: it is a type of pasta made with water and soft wheat flour, as is typical in northern Italy. They have an elongated and coiled shape, like a spindle. The most classic and iconic combination is trofie with pesto; if you go to Genoa, don't miss Trofie al Pesto.
Lasagne is not typical of Liguria, because the most famous recipes come from Emilia Romagna: but while in Emilia they make it with ragù and tomato, in Liguria lasagna is made with green pesto, an icon of the Liguria and Genoa region.
Bavette is a long type of pasta, like spaghetti, but wider and flattened. In Liguria they were originally used for broth. Today, however, they are popular throughout Italy as an alternative to spaghetti.
Penne is usually sold as dry pasta, made with durum wheat 🔊 semolina.
In Italy, the sale of dried pasta is regulated, as we explained on the page about Italian pasta.
To be marketed, pasta must meet a series of strict requirements, including the composition of mainly water and durum wheat semolina.
This is not the case in other European countries, where the pasta on the market may contain soft wheat flour - which is excellent for making fresh pasta, but might indicate low quality in dry pasta.
When choosing a pasta product, we usually check what the manufacturer says on the packaging: if the main ingredient is durum wheat flour, this is already an indication of the good quality of the pasta.
Of course there are other factors that determine the quality too, such as the time and method of drying.
As with other Italian pasta shapes, there are many types of penne:
Penne Rigate is the kind of Penne Italians prefer. This pasta is more palatable and retains the sauce better, which gets into the cavities of the pasta.
Most of all all, the ridges add thickness to the pasta: when it is al dente it is particularly appetizing.
Originally, however, the ridges on the pasta were an addition, made to give structure to the piece of pasta. Experts point out that if pasta is made with high-quality ingredients, groove would not be necessary.
Many Italians don't like Penne Lisce (more on that below): this is because we are used to eating Penne Lisce from the supermarket, perhaps not the best quality.
The original Penne Lisce is porous and has a rough surface: it retains the sauce well. We advise you to try the handmade Penne: they will amaze you.
🔊 Mezze penne, half penne. They are probably the favorites of Italians (and also of my family).
The shorter shape makes them perfect for cooking al dente: they don't flex like the classic penne, and they are small, compact and rather tough as we like pasta in Italy.
In addition, the Mezze Penne are also suitable for cold pasta dishes.
Pennette is as long as Penne, but has a smaller diameter, about half.
Lisce of Rigate, Pennette is excellent with tomato sauce.
Like Penne, but with a larger diameter and thicker paste. You will find Pennoni both handmade and produced by major brands. Of course Pennoni could be Rigati or Lisci.
As proof of the wide variety of pasta produced in Italy, there is also the Mezzi Pennoni: a pasta shape with the largest diameter of Penne, but only half as long as Mezze Penne.
Penne lisce, especially mezze penne of an artisanal brand or in any case of good quality, are an excellent type of pasta that binds well to the sauce.
Unfortunately, however, a large portion of Italians have experience with the penne lisce of the big supermarket brands, which are not always properly excellent: these penne lisce are easily overcooked, and they slip away when you try to pick them with a fork.
So in March 2020, when Italians flocked to the supermarket to stock up on supplies, only one type of pasta remained on the shelves: Penne Lisce.
We frequently update our pages on Italian pasta with new classic and regional traditional recipes.
I am Italian from Trentino. I studied philosophy in Padua and worked for many years between Milan and Amsterdam in the field of media and culture.
Since 2021 I write on All Italian to practice foreign languages; meanwhile I share with you the customs and traditions of my country, and the recipes that I prepare at home.