Fedelini
Fedelini is a kind of pasta that is shaped much like spaghetti but is thinner, being only slightly thicker than vermicelli. The name of the pasta translates to "little faithful ones." This is not an incredibly common type of pasta outside of Italy. There are some companies that make fedelini and distribute it outside of Italy, but just as there are few recipes that call specifically for fedelini, there are also few stores that keep it in stock. Outside of Italy, it is much more common for recipes to call for other types of thin pasta such as vermicelli or angel hair.
This kind of pasta is generally considered to be appropriate to pair with marinara sauce and thin pesto sauce. This is because the thinner strands of the pasta do a better job of collecting the thin sauce than larger pasta, ribbon-shaped pasta, and tube pasta. This allows for better transfer of the sauce from plate to mouth and, therefore, also offers a better transfer of the flavor.
Thicker, cream-based sauces are more commonly paired with wider pastas such as fettucini and linguini. Fedelini is not commonly paired with red sauces made with meat. Instead, these sauces are usually paired with a thicker pasta such as spaghetti. This is because thicker sauces tend to overpower delicate pastas such as fedelini and vermicelli so that the flavor of the pasta itself is nearly lost.
Sometimes fedelini is served simply with
olive oil and
garlic with perhaps a few herbs as
garnish. This simple dish sometimes incorporates lemon juice and
parmesan cheese. Those who love a simple pasta dish like this usually prefer a thin pasta such as fedelini.
