Gnocchi

Gnocchi shells are an industrial, dried semolina pasta that take their name and image from the famous, freshly made gnocchi dumplings. Rather like an open shell (these are relatives of conchiglie) with a series of bulbous, rounded ridges, this is the pasta the Michelin man would make. They are good baked, as well as with wet sauces.

Gnocchi are little dumplings, normally made of potato, boiled and served in a sauce. Their name may derive from gnocco ('idiot'), but seems more likely to stem from nodo ('node', or 'knot' as in wood). This refers to an ancient folktale about a poor wife who laments she has nothing to cook for her husband as he returns from war. She is overheard by a kindly old tree who offers her its knots to boil for him: she accepts, and the gnarled bits of wood turn into fluffy dumplings when the wife lifts the lid from the pot.