Vermicelli
Long, thin dried pasta strands, historically the original name for what we now call spaghetti. Vermicelli means 'little worms' and was for centuries the standard term for string-shaped pasta before spaghetti entered common usage.
History & Tradition
For hundreds of years, vermicelli was the name for strings of pasta until, in the mid-nineteenth century, spaghetti entered the Italian language. In 1579, Naples distinguished between maccheroni and vermicelli, and the vermicellari launched their official guild statute in 1699, establishing a chapel in the church of Carmine Maggiore. The church of Santa Maria dell'Orto in Rome, built between 1489 and 1567, included the vermicellari (pasta makers) among its 13 food-supply guilds. Some southern Italian recipe books still prefer the name vermicelli, particularly for dishes like vermicelli alle vongole and puttanesca.
Dough
How to Make
- Vermicelli are a factory-made dried pasta, produced by extruding durum wheat dough through dies.
- To cook, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
- Add the vermicelli and cook until al dente.
- Drain or lift directly into the sauce using tongs or a spider sieve.