Penne (pronounced PEH-neh for the uninitiated) is one of the most famous Italian pasta shapes that’s beloved the whole world over. It means “pen” in Italian which is a completely pragmatic naming convention after one look at the tubular pasta. This tube-shape with angled ends is inspired by the quill of an old school ink pen. Abiding by tradition, Trader Joe’s Italian Penne Rigate maintains this shape and is certainly a pasta that’s worth writing home about - in pen, that is. Each al dente forkful of our imported Italian Penne Rigate appears as simply just thick, tubular pasta with ridges. But its actually an ingenious design ideal for retaining sauces on all that surface area - inside and out! Because of all that surface area, our Italian Penne Rigate goes magnificently with chunky meat sauces, thick vegetable-based sauces, and rich cream-based sauces. Additionally, Penne often finds its way into many baked pasta and casserole dishes as the thick lil’ noodles make a wonderful foundation to load with meats, veggies, sauce, and heaps of cheeses, of course! Proudly made with only 100% durum wheat semolina, our Italian Penne Rigate can be ready to plate in as little as ten minutes in a boiling water bath!