Penne vs. Ziti — What's the Difference?

Penne (Italian: [ˈpenːe]) is an extruded type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. Penne is the plural form of the Italian penna (meaning feather but pen as well), deriving from Latin penna (meaning "feather" or "quill"), and is a cognate of the English word pen.

Ziti is an extruded pasta, originating in Campania. It is shaped into a long, wide tube, about 25 cm long, that needs to be broken by hand into smaller pieces before cooking.

Pasta in small short tubes with diagonally cut ends.

Pasta in the form of tubes resembling large macaroni.

A type of short, diagonally cut pasta.

Pasta in medium-sized, often ridged tubes.

Pasta in short tubes with diagonally cut ends

A type of macaroni pasta in the form of long smooth hollow tubes.

Medium-sized tubular pasta in short pieces