Occhi di Lupo
OK-kee dee LOO-poh
Also known as occhio di lupo.
Measured to scale. The illustrated portrait is in production.
Specifications
large smooth short tube
What it is
Occhi di Lupo is a wide short tube, smooth more often than ridged, cut at roughly the diameter of candele gragnanesi. It is treated as a typical Southern Italian shape tied to Naples and the wider Campania tradition, and many Pasta di Gragnano IGP houses run a version. The early origins are not documented, so it reads as a regional Neapolitan format rather than a shape with a single recorded inventor. Half-size cuts sold as mezzi occhi di lupo are common, and both smooth and ridged dies are produced.
The name means wolf's eyes. Looking into the open end of the tube, the round cross-section is said to resemble a wolf's eye, and the shape is named for that view. The plural occhi di lupo and singular occhio di lupo both appear on maker packaging.
What sauce it wants, and why
The wide bore is the working feature. It swallows hearty meat sauce and lets a chunky ragu sit inside the tube as well as around it. The format bakes well, holding besciamella and ragu in pasta al forno, and the larger versions are sometimes filled with ricotta. Thin or smooth sauces slide off and through, so the shape favors condiments with body.
Classic plates: Occhi di lupo con le cozze, Occhi di lupo al forno.
No occhi di lupo? Use these
Closest swaps by sauce behavior, not by looks. The ones most easily confused with occhi di lupo, and how they read.
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