 | |
| Alternative names | Rotini |
|---|---|
| Type | Pasta |
| Place of origin | Italy |
Fusilli (Italian: [fuˈzilli]) are a variety of pasta that are formed into corkscrew or helical shapes. In the United States, corkscrew shaped fusilli are known as rotini.
In addition to plain and whole wheat varieties, as with any pasta, other colours can be made by mixing other ingredients into the dough, which also affects the flavour, for example, beetroot or tomato for red, spinach for green,[1] and cuttlefish ink for black.
The origin of fusilli may come from fusibile meaning fuse with a dimunitive suffix, since the traditional corkscrew shape is reminiscent of a small, stylized cannon fuse, ergo tiny fuse.[2] The word might also come from fuso ("spindle").[3]
Fusilli may be solid or hollow. A variant type of fusilli are formed as hollow tubes of pasta that are twisted into springs or corkscrews and are called fusilli bucati. Another variant are twisted long lengths as though spaghetti were coiled around an object known as fusilli lunghi.[4] Fusilli Napoletani are flat lengths of coiled pasta formed around a spindle.[5]
In United States and Canada, the extruded corkscrew shape is known as rotini, whereas the helical shape is known as fusilli.[4]
