There are two types of Vermicelli noodles: the Italian pasta, which is made with semolina flour, eggs and salt (and is used in this recipe) and the Asian variety, (also known as "rice noodles") which uses rice flour instead of a semolina flour. This recipe uses the Italian noodle, which is a wheat noodle, versus a rice noodle.Vermicelli is a thin noodle, smaller than spaghetti but larger than capellini.  If you can't find Vermicelli, thin spaghetti works equally well.