When is a noodle too large?

[Jenise]

When it occupies a 12" plate like a big fat white inner tube?

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This is the largest strand-type noodle I've ever seen. Didn't really think I'd want to ever serve them again, but I couldn't resist trying them just once.

Pappardelle pasta from Trader Joe's, a lemon pepper version. Served with browned sea scallops in a goat cheese, half and half, garlic. parsley sauce last night. I like to twist the pasta with a fork, or pick it up with a fork. This was awkward to eat. I'm not really fond of flavored pastas, but it was pretty and I had to try it, once! That tubular, long pasta of yours, looks a little scary.

I have an attachment for my meat grinder that makes long tubular pasta - about 3/4 inch in diameter. I was thinking such a shape could be stuffed.

[Jenise]

Pappardelle pasta from Trader Joe's, a lemon pepper version. Served with browned sea scallops in a goat cheese, half and half, garlic. parsley sauce last night. I like to twist the pasta with a fork, or pick it up with a fork. This was awkward to eat. I'm not really fond of flavored pastas, but it was pretty and I had to try it, once! That tubular, long pasta of yours, looks a little scary.

Bob and I both commented that the one advantage to this shape was that it forced you to eat more slowly. Paparadelle does likewise since you must cut every bite (I'm not sure which of us is spelling it wrong and I'm too lazy to go look it up mid-post), but what paparadelle does beautifully is provide a wide and sturdy surface that chunky sauces cling to as well as look langorously elegant reposing on a plate. In fact I don't think any pasta does that as well or better. Sadly, neither could be said about my tubes as is obvious in the picture. Btw, they were only about half an inch round in the package--they more than doubled in size while cooking.

[Jenise]

I have an attachment for my meat grinder that makes long tubular pasta - about 3/4 inch in diameter. I was thinking such a shape could be stuffed.

It could, in short lengths like rigatoni, say.

Different subject, Howie: do you use your spent grape must as mulch?

[Robin Garr]

Just out of curiosity, Jenise, what (if any) is the name of this pasta? (I'm pretty sure "pappardelle" is spelled the way Karen did, by the way. "Pop-ar-deh-leh," not "papa-rah-del-leh.")

This is just one woman's opinion, but I don't really care for the aesthetics of a noodle this big. As Jenise said, it's eerily similar to a big fat white inner tube. Or maybe a big ol' slug. This one is a weird size; it looks too small to stuff, but too big to serve under sauce. At any rate, it looks like a hell of a lot of pasta to get through as well. I guess I just prefer something a bit daintier!

Fun experiment, though.

[Jenise]

Just out of curiosity, Jenise, what (if any) is the name of this pasta? (I'm pretty sure "pappardelle" is spelled the way Karen did, by the way. "Pop-ar-deh-leh," not "papa-rah-del-leh.")

Been sayin' it wrong, then.

[Jenise]

This one is a weird size; it looks too small to stuff, but too big to serve under sauce.

Fun experiment, though.

You got it. And it just shrugged off my sauce!

I know that most pasta shapes exist for a reason; but the reason for this one totally escapes me.

...Different subject, Howie: do you use your spent grape must as mulch?

More as a compost - makes for a good fertilizer, but you have to allow time for the seeds to die and decompose, otherwise you'll start growing a million grapes vines of questionable quality.

[Robin Garr]

Just out of curiosity, Jenise, what (if any) is the name of this pasta? (I'm pretty sure "pappardelle" is spelled the way Karen did, by the way. "Pop-ar-deh-leh," not "papa-rah-del-leh.")

Been sayin' it wrong, then.

Just act like you meant to say it that way. Nobody will know. (I'm pretty good at pronouncing Italian food names, but nobody wan't to hear my French.

So, anyway, do you know the name of that tube pasta?

So, anyway, do you know the name of that tube pasta?

Boccolotti, Zitoni, Zituane, Candele. These are the names for tube pasta that long and fat.

So, anyway, do you know the name of that tube pasta?

Boccolotti, Zitoni, Zituane, Candele. These are the names for tube pastas that long and fat.

I've always wondered - what do pastas long for?

I've always wondered - what do pastas long for?

I don't know, but I've corrected my post.

We've looking for Pappardelle ever since enjoying it with short ribs at Uno this past year. I know it available online, and I buy a lot of things on line, but I'm not ready to pay S&H on my noodles yet!

[Jenise]

So, anyway, do you know the name of that tube pasta?

Boccolotti, Zitoni, Zituane, Candele. These are the names for tube pasta that long and fat.

Thanks, Heinz. What I bought didn't have a name on the package, but it was an Italian import, and a brand that has a lot of cool looking pastas the likes of which one doesn't normally see here in the U.S. Jo Ann, if you're looking on: got these at PFI, ever shop there?

IMHO that pasta looks grotesque! It brings to mind entrails, or parasites.

My first thought was this dish looks like what I removed from the last deer I bagged.