Campanelle/Gigli

Unmistakably floral, even in name (gigli means ‘lilies’, campanelle ‘bells’ or ‘bell-flowers’), these pastas are made from a single sheet of pasta with a frilly edge, twisted into a tapering helix – just as a baker might make flowers from sugar paste. They are a fantasy pasta shape – designed to meet consumer desire for something new – but the designers bore in mind the need for a shape that looked good, cooked evenly without breaking, and was a good vehicle for sauce, and so campanelle have become a well-used and respected form. As with a number of fantastical shapes, these may be made with semolina dough (in general, from larger and more industrial producers), or with a richer egg pasta from more artisanal production, but they are always sold dried.