Italian cuisine more varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini. The word pasta is also used to refer to dishes in which pasta products are a primary ingredient. It is usually served with sauce. There are hundreds of different shapes of pasta with at least locally recognized names. Examples include spaghetti (thin rods), rigatoni (tubes or cylinders), fusilli (swirls), and lasagne (sheets). Dumplings, like gnocchi (made with potatoes or pumpkin) and noodles like spätzle, are sometimes considered pasta. They are both traditional in parts of Italy. Pasta is categorized in two basic styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta
Alkaline pasta Alkaline pasta Alkaline pasta, or alkaline noodles, is a variation of standard Chinese or Italian noodles in which a much higher than usual quantity of an alkaline component is part of the fabrication process. This is usually achieved by the introduction of sodium carbonate (NaCO or sodium salt of carbonic acid) into the primary ingredients. In parts of China in which alkaline wheat noodles are common, traditional ones are made with alkaline water from wells. More commonly a mixture of sodium carbonate, which is also an anti-caking agent, and potassium carbonate is added directly. This mixture is what the Chinese