One of the most famous Italian pasta shapes and loved across Italy, Penne, which means "pen" in Italian, gets its name from its shape. The tube-shape with angled ends was inspired by the quill of an old-style ink pen.
The large diameter and ridges of Penne make it ideal for retaining sauces on the entire surface, inside and out! Try Penne with chunkier meat or vegetable-based sauces, refined dairy-based sauces, like a mushroom cream sauce, tomato sauces, or spicy sauces. Penne is also delicious in baked casserole dishes, known as “pasta al forno."