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 salad (like olive oil) to the pasta, either after it is done cooking or to add it to the pasta water. The noodles can be spread out to cool and will not stick together because of the layer of oil on their surfaces. In Australian and New Zealand cuisine, pasta salad became increasingly popular during the 1990s when commercial versions became more readily available in supermarket stores across both Australia, and New Zealand. It is made up of cooked pasta pieces (usually either shell pasta, elbow shaped pasta or Penne) covered in mayonnaise and accompanied by carrots, capsicum (bell peppers), and