WHAT IS ANELLINI?

Anellini are tiny, little rings of pasta.  Futhermore they are one of the first cuts that Italian children eat . Anelli is their bigger cousin, and Anelloni is like the calamarata (calamari) cut but has grooved ridges on the inside of the pasta.

WHERE ARE ANELLINI MADE?

These cuts originate from Sicily.  The southern influence visible here makes sense considering that this island is only 200 miles (140 km) away from the African continent.

FRANKENSTEIN WAS THE NAME OF THE DOCTOR, NOT THE PASTA?

Scientists from the U.K. also “created” a pasta cut in the anellini family, and also named it anelloni.  Their version completely ignored the original shape, and had nothing to do with the art of food.  And some food chemists have commented that this is why physicists should stay out of their way in the kitchen.  Having said that, however, a biochemist wrote a brilliant book on cooking called Cookwise, so don’t paint all scientists with the same food brush of scorn.

WHAT SAUCES GO WELL WITH THIS PASTA?

The difference sizes of each version of this pasta cut favor different recipes.  While anellini is used in soups and salads while anelloni d’Africa look like giant gold hoop earrings and tend to be more stand-alone items.  Sicily in general is very strong in tomato and seafood dishes so you can’t go wrong there.  If you want to have some fun playing with texture, use both dried and semi-dried tomatoes in your dish.  If you’d like to see one of our recipes using anellini check out Amatriciana sauce recipe!