What are these Italians - inventors! They not only invented dozens of types of pasta, but also hundreds of dishes from them. But how can it be sometimes difficult to understand all these varieties. Spaghetti, fettuccine, cannelloni, penne - what does it all mean? In fact, strange Italian words hide quite a few familiar dishes. So, for example, pennés are just short tubes with oblique slices. And they got their name from the Italian word "penna" ("feather") for their outward resemblance to it.
But these "feathers" are different. The most popular among them are penne rigate with a ribbed surface and smooth penne lichens. Which of them is better, even the Italians will not be able to answer. Rigate absorb sauce better, but less have a more delicate taste. Therefore, ribbed penne is used mainly for second courses and salads, while smooth ones are used to prepare casseroles. But no matter what penne you choose, recipes for using them are always simple. No wonder this is the most popular pasta in Italy.
But, before you start cooking dishes with them, you need to learn how to choose and cook pasta. Any
pasta should be prepared only from durum wheat. There is no exception for penn. What does this give in
cooking? Pasta does not boil and do not stick together after cooking. It is also very important to prepare them correctly. For every 100 g of dry "feathers" you need to take 1 liter of water and 10 g of salt. Italian chefs also recommend adding a little vegetable oil to the water during cooking, so that the penne simply does not have the ability to stick together. And, of course, you need to follow the instructions on the pack and cook only according to it.
Once the pasta is ready, you can start creating dishes from it. Most often, “feathers” are prepared with various sauces, used in salads and casseroles. One of the popular recipes is penne with mushrooms and onions. To do this, first you need to boil 350 g of pasta to the state of "al dente", put on a sieve and let it drain water. Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and put the leek and chopped garlic in half rings. Cook for 3 minutes. Separately, still heat 25 g of oil and put 350 g of mushrooms, sliced into slices. Fry them for 5 minutes and add previously fried onions with garlic, 250 g of cream cheese, a couple of tablespoons of white wine, zest of half a lemon, 50 g of grated parmesan and season to taste. Mix well and simmer for another 2 minutes. Combine the cooked sauce and penne.
That this dish from this pasta is far from the only one, of course, it is known not only to Italians. This is probably the most popular type of pasta, not only at home, but also around the world. Sometimes culinary fantasies of cooks can surprise or even cause bewilderment. With the addition of "feathers" even sweet desserts and cakes are cooked. But do not be afraid of such penne dishes. That the best chefs around the world do this is no secret. This should convince anyone of the correct choice of this particular paste for cooking. You just have to follow the recipe, and then even the most amazing dishes will be no worse than restaurant delicacies.