With so many pasta shapes out there, selecting the right one can make you feel like a kid in a candy store. Luckily, the kind of sauce you’re planning to make can help narrow down the type of pasta you should be using. Here are some introductory tips on how to choose your pasta shapes.
TUBULAR
Cylinder-shaped pastas like rigatoni or penne are great for capturing thicker sauces. The outsides have ridges carved into them, which means extra surface area to cradle that sauce.
Thin noodles
These noods tangle up beautifully with many types of sauce, making them the United Nations of pastas!
Thick noodles
These are the perfect canvas for just about any sauce. Pair with heavier sauces since they’re shaped much wider and can handle the heftiness without being overwhelmed.
- Thicker noodles tend to also be made with an egg-based dough, and serve as carriers of creamier flavor that pair well with richer sauces like alfredo.
Stuffing
Creamy filling based on creamier cheeses such as ricotta, mozzarella, and burrata. Sometimes meat and veggies are added to accentuate the rich sauce on the exterior.
Squiggly
Originated by rolling and setting spaghetti around thin rods to dry and create twisted shapes. Can hold any sauce thrown at its curvatures. Shapes: Rotini, Fusilli, Cavatappi Sauces: Mac & Cheese, Marinara, Pesto, Vodka Sauce
