Difference between ziti, penne and mac and cheese

Silver Member Joined: Feb 23 2010 Posts: 698

Can someone explain what's the difference between them?

Silver Member Joined: Jan 05 2010 Posts: 526

Ziti & penne are shapes of pasta. Mac and cheese is macaroni with cheese. Can really be any shape pasta, but I think is most often made with elbows.

Silver Member Joined: Jun 21 2010 Posts: 818

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you don't want to know the shape of pasta but the dishes typically associated with those words:
Ziti= ziti type pasta, made with cottage cheese, cheese, sauce and pasta all baked together.
Penne= Penne a la vodka which is penne type pasta with a pink sauce made with sauce, heavy cream and other ingredients
Mac n cheese= any type of pasta bakes with cheese and milk.

Silver Member Joined: Feb 23 2010 Posts: 698

Thanks for explaining. What is a ziti type pasta and a penne type pasta? IOW how do they look like?

Ziti

Penne

Silver Member Joined: May 01 2012 Posts: 623

and I make baked ziti with penne noodles all the time. Smile

Silver Member Joined: Feb 23 2010 Posts: 698

Thanks. That's what I needed!!

and confusingly I usually make my mac n' cheese with penne...

Shape of pasta usually determines what kind of sauce to serve with (as well as cooking time).
Penne has thin lines along the surface, which "mops up" more cheesy/tomatoey/creamy sauce.
Ziti is thicker so good for baked dish.

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 17 2011 Posts: 5924