Penne is an Italian pasta, shaped into cylinders with their ends cut at an angle. It is made in both smooth (penne lisce) and riged (penne rigate) forms.
Word origins
Penne is the plural form of the Italian penna, deriving from Latin penna, and is a cognate of the English word pen. When this pasta shape was created, it was intended to imitate the then-ubiquitous fountain pen's steel nibs.