Pasta comes in various shapes and sizes, made from different ingredients depending on its intended purpose and region. Thicker sauces go better with shaped pasta, while thinner sauces go better with delicate strips. Common shapes include macaroni, rotini, and penne.
Pasta comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, developed in various parts of Italy to accompany a myriad of sauces. In addition to the strips, it can also be found molded into fantastical shapes, and is made from different ingredients, depending on its intended purpose and the region where it is made. Basic pastas can be divided into two types: egg pasta, made with flour, salt, eggs and oil; or regular, made with water, salt, and flour. Different types of flour including whole wheat, low protein, and conventional white are used in varying proportions in different parts of the world.
In general, the type of pasta used depends on the sauce. Thicker sauces go better with shaped pasta, because it will be able to hold and transport the sauce more effectively. Thinner sauces, on the other hand, go better with small, delicate strips like thin egg noodles or capellini. Additionally, you may want to consider who eats the pasta when choosing a type, as children find it easier to eat shapes that fit more easily on forks or in the bowl than a spoon.
Pasta cut into strips includes capellini, or angel hair, the thinnest type. Thicker varieties such as spaghetti, linguine and fettucini are also available. While these thicker shapes can be used with thicker sauces, they don’t go well with chunky ones, as the chunks tend to slide off the pasta and end up at the bottom of the bowl. They are ideal with cream sauces, pesto, lemon sauces, thin red sauces or served with olive oil, garlic and parmesan. If you serve the pasta with a fork and spoon, diners will find it much less challenging to eat.
The assortment of shapes can be quite intimidating, especially in a market that carries a lot of Italian imports. Some common shapes include macaroni, tubes of pasta suitable for cooking, and cream sauces; butterflies or bow ties; rotini, or braided spaghetti; wheels, or wagon wheels,; and penne, larger tube-shaped pasta. Rotini is also available in a longer strip form, in which case it’s called fusilli. These shapes are all excellent in baked dishes or served with thick, chunky sauces. Some are specially designed for cooking, as in the case of manicotti and lasagna. Either way, the dough is large, sturdy, and thick, to withstand boiling, stuffing, and cooking.
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