Ziti is an extruded

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...

, originating in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. It is shaped into a long, wide tube, about 25 cm long, that needs to be broken by hand into smaller pieces before cooking. Ziti have similarities to

bucatini Bucatini (), also known as perciatelli (), are a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. They are common throughout Lazio, particularly Rome. The similar ziti are long hollow rods which are also smooth in texture and ...

but are much thicker. Ziti are often stuffed and baked, where

penne Penne () 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 " ...

, another tubular pasta but one that is pre-shortened, are sauced or used in pasta salads. Ziti in the US is most commonly associated with the Italian-American dish of

baked ziti Baked ziti is a popular casserole with ziti pasta and a Neapolitan-style tomato-based sauce characteristic of Italian-American cuisine. It is a form of '' pasta al forno''. Typically, the pasta is first boiled separately until it is nearly, ...

although it is also used in

pasta alla Norma Pasta alla Norma (), earlier called ''pasta con le melanzane'' 'pasta with eggplant',Touring Club Italiano, ''Vie d'Italia e del mondo'', 1928?p. 750/ref>Gioacchino Balducci, ''Italia moderna'', 1973, , p. 109 is an Italian dish of pasta and eg ...

. In Sicily, it is traditionally served at a wedding feast. is the plural form of , meaning "bride" or "groom" in Sicilian dialect.

References

Cuisine of Sicily Types of pasta {{Italy-cuisine-stub