Penne lisce (smooth penne) 🇮🇹 🇸🇲 🇻🇦

Foods, Culinary bases, Flour-based foods, Shaped unleavened doughs, Italian pasta, Penne

Consumption area(s): Italy 🇮🇹, San Marino 🇸🇲, Vatican City 🇻🇦

Introduction

Penne lisce (smooth penne), are a variety of penne distinguished by their smooth, untextured outer surface. Like other penne, they have a hollow cylindrical shape with ends cut diagonally, but lack the longitudinal ridges characteristic of penne rigate. Their relatively compact shape allows them to hold sauce inside the central cavity while maintaining a clean and firm texture when properly cooked.

Production methods for penne lisce

Penne lisce are typically sold as dry pasta, ready to cook straight from the package. However, it’s also possible to make them from scratch at home, as shown in the recipe below.

Penne lisce (smooth penne)

Please use the note section below to adjust ingredient quantities according to the number of servings or the amounts you need. Simply enter your desired servings, and the ingredient amounts will automatically update for your convenience.

Print recipe

Preparation time 30

Resting time 30

Total time 1

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italy

Servings 750 g (26 Oz) fresh pasta/5 people

Іngredients

500 g semola (4 cups) (outside Italy, it is perfectly acceptable to use a standard durum wheat semolina) *
250 ml water (1 cup)

Іnstructions

Place the semola on a clean work surface and gradually add the water, mixing it in slowly while kneading continuously. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Knead until you obtain a smooth, uniform dough.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough using a pasta machine or a rolling pin until you get a smooth, thin sheet about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) thick.
Cut the sheet into squares of equal size, each side measuring approximately 2 centimeters (0.8 inches).
Place each square over a smooth pasta board or work surface, then position the shaping stick diagonally across the dough. Roll the dough around the stick to form the characteristic hollow, cylindrical shape with diagonally cut ends of penne lisce. Gently remove the pasta from the stick and continue until all the dough has been used.
Alternatively, cut the dough into strips and feed them into a pasta extruder fitted with a smooth penne die. Extrude the dough and cut it into pieces of approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) in length.
Then, using a knife, trim both ends diagonally to obtain the characteristic slanted edges of penne lisce. Continue until all the dough has been used.
Arrange the finished penne lisce on a tray, keeping the pieces well separated, and leave them in a cool, dry place until ready to cook.

Notes:

* However, in Italy, there is a strong preference for coarse, unrefined semola, as it produces rougher pasta that holds the sauce more effectively, though it is also harder to work with. To simplify the preparation and make the dough smoother and easier to knead, one can use re-milled semola (semola rimacinata) instead, though this results in a less textured surface on the final pasta.

Adjust quantities for desired grams

Adjust quantities for desired ounces

Adjust quantities for servings

Keyword Pasta

Nutritional facts table

Please note that nutritional values may vary slightly depending on the producer or the exact ingredients used.

Nutrients	Per 100 g dry weight	Per 100 g fresh weight
Calories (kcal)	359	240
Total fat (g)	2	1
———Saturated fat (g)	0.5	0.2
Cholesterol (mg)	0	0
Sodium (mg)	0.5	0.67
Total carbohydrates (g)	70.9	48
———Dietary fiber (g)	3	2.6
———Total sugar (g)	3.5	0.4
Protein (g)	12.8	8.7