Fusilli

Fusilli are long, thick, corkscrew shaped pasta. The word fusilli presumably comes from fuso (“spindle”), as traditionally it is “spun” by pressing and rolling a small rod over the thin strips of pasta to wind them around it in a corkscrew shape.

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,and cuttlefish ink for black.

Fusilli may be solid or hollow. Hollow fusilli are also called fusilli bucati.

The term fusilli is also used to describe a short, flattened, twisted pasta known as rotini in the United States. Short twisted pasta are also marketed as fusilli, as well as a tri-color fusilli which is marketed to consumers who want bistro style salads etc. This type of product is widely seen.