The History of Ruote Pazze (Wheel-Shaped Pasta)

When new types of metal dies were created in the late 19th century, it became possible to create unique, complex, and uniform pasta shapes for the first time. (Previously, all short pastas had to be cut and shaped by hand.) Improved indoor pasta-drying methods were also introduced around this time, making it possible to create significantly larger batches of pasta than ever before, leading to experimentation and a proliferation of new pasta shapes — including ruote pazze. In the early 20th century, Benedetto Cavalieri convinced a pasta maker to design a wheel-shaped pasta. He specified that each piece needed to have spokes of three different thicknesses, which caused issues during the drying process. Reportedly, the pasta maker was exasperated by the somewhat illogical design, likely leading to the name of the pasta — ruote pazze, which means “crazy wheels” in Italian. After some tweaks were made, the wheel-shaped pasta was released to the public and quickly caught on in Italy as well as in other parts of the world. Today, this unique style of pasta is appreciated for its zany shape and is used in a wide variety of pasta dishes.