Barilla Piccolini

I have to say - I am a fan of 'miniature foods' so when I heard about Barilla's new line of miniature pasta shapes called Piccolini - I couldn't wait to give them a try. Piccolini in Italian means 'little ones', which describes this tiny pasta's in classic, shapes perfectly. Each adorable pasta is about an inch long, half the size of the regular pasta. This is part of what makes eating them so much fun!

Barilla Piccolini comes in five adorable mini shapes: farfalle, penne, wheels, fusilli and ziti. I have to say, the farfalle (bow ties) are the cutest and our favorite.

Price: The average price for a 16-ounce box of Barilla Piccolini is $1.39. However, they often go on sale for $1 per box.

Cooking Directions: Boil 4-6 quarts of water. Add desired amount of salt. Pour mini pasta shapes in boiling water and stir. Bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally cook for 7 minutes for al dente or until desired doneness. Remove from heat and drain.

My Review

You may have noticed the cooking time mentioned above is only 7 minutes. This is a little less cooking time compared to the 'normal' size pasta, which is between 10 - 14 minutes. Now, a few minutes might not seem like a lot of time but when you have 0 patience, 1 nerve left and 5 kids - minutes can sometimes seem like hours.

Besides, the shorter cooking time, these mini pasta shapes are perfect finger food for tiny fingers just learning to eat. My two younger children love these as a little snack, plain with just some butter. Each Barilla Piccolini shape is a perfect bite size for them and their fun shapes make it easy for their tiny fingers to pick up.

What I like about Barilla Piccolini, besides the cute tiny shape of them, is these shapes are about the same size as other cut up veggies, meats or other ingredients you might put into whatever pasta dish you are making. What this means is that with every bite you will get equal amounts of pasta, veggies and meats - which will give your pasta dish a whole new taste.

Even though Barilla Piccolini mini pasta shapes are geared toward kids and family, I would recommend these to anyone. Even if you aren't a mini foods lover - Barilla Piccolini gives your pasta dishes a whole new taste, look and experience. Plus, they are just plain fun to eat!