Tagliolini Vs Tagliatelle: What's The Difference?
"A pasta by any name would still taste as sweet," waxes the deliriously hungry foodie — especially if those pastas have nearly identical names in the first place. We're exploring two such cousins, tagliolini and tagliatelle, to determine what makes these pasta pillars unique in the Italian culinary oeuvre, despite the way they roll off the tongue (and down the hatch) so comparably.
Both tagliolini and tagliatelle are types of long pastas conjugated from the Italian "tagliare," which means "to cut." Both pastas are also made from a dough of durum semolina flour and eggs, although tagliolini adds a splash of white wine into the mix and is more egg-yolk-heavy. Still, both tagliolini and tagliatelle can be dyed with ingredients like spinach, tomato, and saffron for vibrant, colorful hues.
The chief difference between these pastas is their widths. Tagliatelle is wider than fettuccine and narrower than pappardelle. Each strand of tagliatelle is roughly three millimeters thick and six to seven millimeters wide. Post-cook, this becomes closer to a width of seven or eight mm. By contrast, tagliolini is narrower than tagliatelle but wider than capellini. Each strand of tagliolini is roughly two to three millimeters wide and one millimeter thick.
Another key distinction is that tagliatelle originated in Emilia-Romagna and remains especially popular in the Northern and Central regions of Italy. Tagliolini, on the other hand, is considered regional fare of Piemonte, where the pasta is also called "tajarin" and is typically shaped into narrower 1 millimeter strands.
What is tagliolini?
Tagliolini are long, narrow, cylindrical strands of pasta with a high capacity for sauce absorption. It's a superstar as a substitute in spaghetti carbonara or when coated in homemade Alfredo sauce. Although, due to its more delicate texture, tagliolini isn't the best option for heartier meat sauces.
You can use tagliolini pretty much anywhere that you might normally use spaghetti. Tagliolini is traditionally served in soups but is also commonly slathered in light cream or tomato-based sauces alongside seafood and vegetable dishes. Thanks to its rich egg yolk content, tagliolini is flavorful enough to enjoy on its own with just a little butter and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
In Italy, tagliolini is often sold fresh or in dried pasta nests, like this version by Giusto Sapore. Other manufacturers like Morelli also make tagliolini in dried, straight orientation, but this format is less common. For a simple yet impressive dinner, serve tagliolini in a light olive oil sauce topped with melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto strips or pan-seared pancetta cubes. Or whip up a savory vegetarian dish with tagliolini, dried porcini mushrooms, garlic, and chives. For the most regional flair, you could use it as a vehicle for those freshly-shaved truffles you've been saving.
In Piedmontese culinary tradition, tajarin is enjoyed in a thin, creamy sauce made from local white truffles. Some Piedmont restaurants even serve 40 yolk tajarin, championing the decadent rich flavor and velvety texture of the pasta. For reference, standard tagliatelle uses 10 eggs per kilo of semolina flour. And speaking of tagliatelle...
What is tagliatelle?
Like tagliolini, tagliatelle is highly absorbent, but unlike its thinner counterpart, tagliatelle is thick enough to accommodate heavier, meatier sauces, making it a great fit for bolognese, boar ragu, or as a bed beneath veal picatta (a favorite dish of Martha Stewart). As its name suggests, the egg and semolina flour dough is rolled into a large sheet and sliced into ribbons.
Whereas tagliolini is Piedmontese, tagliatelle is Bolognese in origin, thought to have been invented in Emilia-Romanga's capital of Bologna. Per the lore, tagliatelle's invention happened one night in 1487 when then-Lord Giovanni II of Bentivoglio asked his chef, Mastro Zefirano, to prepare an impressive banquet to honor Italian noblewoman Lucrezia Borgia's upcoming marriage to Duke Alfonso D'Este of Ferrara. In response, Zefirano created a pasta sliced into long golden strips to resemble the blonde hair of the bride-to-be.
Like tagliolini, tagliatelle is also typically served either fresh or in dried nests, like this offering by Seggiano. Still, straight dried versions can also be found on the market, like Marulo tagliatelle imported from Campania. Ragu alla bolognese is the most common preparation for tagliatelle pasta, a nod to its roots in Bologna. Tagliatelle is also commonly served with meaty chunks of smoked salmon, chicken liver, or Italian baccala salt cod. For vegetarian dishes, tagliatelle can be served with peas, olive oil, and a light cream sauce, or the traditional tomato basil pomodoro e basilico.