If I say pasta, your brain probably jumps straight to a steaming plate of spaghetti, maybe with a coating of tomato sauce, a nice shaving of Parmigiano, and that satisfying first twirl on the fork. Pure deliciousness, right?
But what if I told you that in Italian pasta isn’t just what’s for dinner? Yep, this word is also used in some unexpected ways, including personalities!
Let’s explore all the wonderful, non-culinary meanings hiding behind this famous Italian word.
Pasta as the star of the table
Let’s start with the obvious: pasta as pasta. The good stuff. The carb-loaded heart and soul of Italian cuisine. That glorious mix of flour and water (and sometimes eggs) that’s lovingly shaped into spaghetti, fusilli, farfalle, maccheroni, orecchiette… and the list could go on and on.
The process? Acqua bollente (boiling water), sale grosso (coarse salt), la buttiamo (we toss it in), la scoliamo (we drain it), we dress it with a great sugo (sauce), and volià… a tavola! (Dinner’s ready!).
I don’t know about you, but just writing this makes me super hungry.
While pasta is now the queen of the primi piatti (first course dishes), it didn’t always have that spot. Back in the day, pasta was just a contorno (a side dish). It took Pellegrino Artusi (the famous Italian gastronome) to elevate it to a standalone dish on Italian menus in the 19th century.
A little grammar note: in this meaning, pasta is always singular. So, you don’t say tre paste, you say tre piatti di pasta (three pasta dishes).
And here’s a fun fact: we also call it pastasciutta (literally, “dry pasta”), a word that refers to the fact that we drain it before serving it, making it, well, not soup. That’s what sets it apart from pasta in brodo (pasta in broth).
Pasta as dough
The second meaning of pasta is less about boiling and more about kneading, literally. It refers to dough, that mix of flour, water (or milk), maybe a pinch of salt, sometimes eggs or butter… you know what I mean. Basically, the base of all things good and baked. For example, we have:
- La pasta frolla: shortcrust pastry
- La pasta sfoglia: puff pastry
- La pasta fillo: phyllo dough
- La pasta per la pizza: pizza dough
From this meaning, we get the verb impastare, which means “to knead.” And then there’s pastella, the batter for coating vegetables or fish before frying.
Pasta as a tiny, fancy dessert
If you’ve ever had Sunday lunch in an Italian home, you might have witnessed the beloved ritual of opening un bel vassoio di paste (a nice tray of mini pastries) just before the meal wraps up. Yes, paste. Because the third meaning of pasta refers to those bite-sized, irresistible desserts, so good that uno tira l’altro (you can’t stop at just one)!
Also called pasticcini, these little bites of joy come in all shapes and kinds. Some of us are loyal to the classics—cannoncini (cream horns with that golden crunch), bignè (cream puffs sent straight from heaven), or cestini alla frutta (mini tartlets topped with shiny, colourful fruit like they’ve been styled for a Vogue shoot).
Others go regional with mini babà soaked in rum or tiny cannoli that taste like Sicily in one bite. As for me? I’m team mini diplomatica. Imagine a small layer cake made of golden puff pastry, soft sponge cake, and a rich creamy filling. Don’t judge. After all, le cose o si fanno bene o non si fanno (either do it right or don’t bother), am I right?
Pasta as… the inner stuff
If at this point you’re thinking, Can pasta really mean anything else? Yep, we’re not done yet. Pasta in Italian can also refer to the flesh or texture of a food, especially fruits, vegetables, and cheese.
So, for instance you could hear:
- Le pesche a pasta gialla: peaches with yellow flesh
- Le pesche a pasta bianca: peaches with white flesh
- Un formaggio a pasta filata: spun paste cheese (like mozzarella or provola)
- Un formaggio a pasta morbida: soft cheese (like stracchino)
- Un formaggio a pasta cruda: raw-curd cheese (like certain types of pecorino)
- Le patate a pasta gialla: yellow-fleshed potatoes
Pasta as paste
If pasta can be dough (something soft, mouldable, kneadable), it’s easy to see how it can also refer to a “paste.” In this fourth meaning, pasta describes any smooth, spreadable substance, whether in cooking or other contexts. Classic examples include:
- Pasta dentifricia: toothpaste
- Pasta di legno: wood pulp
- Pasta di acciughe: anchovy paste
- Pasta di mandorle: almond paste
- Pasta di zucchero: fondant
Pasta in idioms
Finally, we also use pasta figuratively to talk about people, hinting at the inner “dough” that shapes their personality and character. In short, their nature.
Here are some common expressions:
Avere le mani in pasta (lit. “to have one’s hands in the dough”): typically used in a slightly negative or suspicious tone, referring to someone who’s deeply involved in something, and often suggests they have a lot of connections or questionable involvement.
Giulia lavora in quel settore da anni, ormai ha le mani in pasta ovunque.
Giulia has been in that industry for years, she’s got her hands in everything by now.
Essere di pasta buona (lit. “to be of good pasta”): said of someone who’s genuinely kind, generous, and honest. In other words, a really good person. You might also hear a similar phrase, una pasta d’uomo (lit. “a pasta of a man”), to talk about a gentle person.
Non si può dire niente di Giorgio, è proprio una pasta d’uomo!
You can’t say anything bad about Giorgio, he’s truly a good guy!
Essere di tutt’altra pasta (lit. “to be of another pasta”): used to describe someone who is fundamentally different in character or quality from others, like saying they’re a whole different breed.
Non sottovalutarla, è di tutt’altra pasta rispetto agli altri candidati.
Don’t underestimate her, she’s a completely different breed compared to the other candidates.
Essere fatti della stessa pasta (lit. “to be made of the same pasta”): a lovely figurative expression used to say that two people share the same nature or character, whether that’s a good or bad thing.
Quei due sono fatti della stessa pasta: furbi e pronti a tutto pur di ottenere ciò che vogliono.
Those two are cut from the same cloth: cunning and willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want.
Essere di pasta grossa (lit. “to be made of coarse dough”): a way to say someone is a bit unrefined, not exactly delicate in how they speak or act.
È una brava persona, ma è di pasta grossa: parla senza filtri.
He’s a good person, but he’s blunt: he speaks without a filter.
Valentina Nicastro is a travel writer in love with her home country, Italy. Having travelled widely around the globe, she realised there was more to explore closer to home and decided to put the passport aside for a while. When she is not immersed in documenting Italy, you’ll find her donning her communication consultant hat, weaving words as a content writer and bridging linguistic divides as a translator.
