Fresh Pasta Category

For more information about selecting, cooking, and storing pasta in general, click here. See also our page on stuffed pasta, which is usually made with fresh pasta dough.

Fresh pasta, or pasta fresca, is usually made with eggs, so it's sometimes called egg pasta or pasta all'uovo. The eggs give the noodles a more tender texture and richer flavor, which works well with light, delicate sauces. Fresh pasta usually sold in the dairy or frozen-food case.

Popular varieties include tagliatelle, casarecci, pappardelle, garganelli, and stricchetti.

Fresh pastas are wonderfully tender, but they can turn mushy if overcooked. They don't work well in casseroles or pasta salads, which require firmer noodles or shapes.

Store fresh pasta in the refrigerator for up to five days.

agnolotti

Italian for "priests' caps," agnolotti are small, stuffed crescents of egg-dough pasta that are usually filled with roasted meat, cheese, mushrooms, and/or spinach. A specialty of Italy's Piedmont region, they're great in a broth or pasta salad.

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casarecce

Casarecci means "homemade" in Italian, and these short lengths of rolled and twisted Italian pasta are great at trapping sauces.

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garganelli

With its quill shapes, this type of Italian egg pasta resembles penne. It's often served with a simple meat sauce.

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pappardelle

Pappardelle noodles are flat ribbons of Italian pasta, sold either dried or fresh. They're normally served with hearty sauces. These are often made with eggs, and so might not work in a vegan diet.

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pasta sheet

Use this sheet of fresh pasta in place of lasagna, or to make your own stuffed pasta. You can sometimes buy it where fresh pasta is made in-house.

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tagliatelle

These long ribbons of pasta are very similar to fettuccine. They go well with a hearty meat sauce.

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