Kinds, Characteristics, and Quality Factors

Commercial dried pasta is made from dough that has been shaped and dried. To refer to this category of food, we sometimes use the term macaroni, meaning any dried pasta made from flour and water. These include spaghetti, lasagna, elbow macaroni, and many other shapes.

The best dried macaroni pastas are made from semolina, a high-protein flour from the inner part of durum wheat kernels. Lower-quality products are made from farina, a softer flour.