Pasta different names depending upon the town and region. Common forms of pasta include long and short shapes, tubes, flat shapes or sheets, miniature shapes for soup, those meant to be filled or stuffed, and specialty or decorative shapes. As a category in Italian cuisine, both fresh and dried pastas are classically used in one of three kinds of prepared dishes: as "pasta asciutta" (or "pastasciutta"), cooked pasta is plated and served with a complementary side sauce or condiment; a second classification of pasta dishes is "pasta in brodo", in which the pasta is part of a soup-type dish. A third
Pasta amount of thermal energy, they become embedded within the protein matrix and align along the direction of the shear caused by the extrusion process. Starch gelatinization and protein coagulation are the major changes that take place when pasta is cooked in boiling water. Protein and starch competing for water within the pasta cause a constant change in structure as the pasta cooks. In 2011, the three largest producers of dried pasta were Italy (3.2 million tonnes), the United States (3 million tonnes), and Brazil (1.3 million tonnes). By 2016, Italy was still the largest producer of pasta in the world