The range of dried pasta types at the store can be bewildering. Do you want corkscrews, stovepipes, or little ears tonight? Perhaps a big dish of priest stranglers (that’d be “strozzapreti” in Italian).
There are reasons pasta exists in so many forms. It’s partly regional (Italian cities big and small always seem to have a specialty pasta). But it’s also practical — certain types of pasta better suit certain sauces. The workhorse pastas, like farfalle, work well with a wide variety of sauces.
The general rule is that delicate noodles (including fresh pasta) are for delicate sauces, while heartier noodles are for heartier sauces. But, like wine pairing, it’s not always that simple. Here’s a guide to help you sort it all out. And if you can’t tell your radiatore from your penne, we’ve got pictures.
We’ve cross-referenced this visual guide by pasta or by sauce and included some suggestions for specific recipes you can try. So dig in and mangia!
Acini di pepe are “little peppercorns,” named for their tiny ball shape. They’re reminiscent of Israeli couscous, and you’ll find them floating in dishes such as Italian wedding soup.
Bucatini is a long, pipe-shaped pasta with a hole in the center that’s just wide enough to soak up a few saucy juices. Check out our recipe for bucatini all’amatriciana alla Robert Sietsema for some inspo.
These pasta bands are named for their squid-like shape. They work best with other shapely ingredients and sauces that have a bit of substance.
Campanelle are bells that are the perfect size for pocketing little nubs of cheese, veggies, or meat. Check out our recipe for heirloom tomato-basil pasta with olives and feta with campanelle.
Acini di pepe – an extremely small, round pasta shape – translates to peppercorn, or seeds of pepper. It comes from the Latin word acinus, meaning grape stones.
Capellini (aka angel hair)
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with seafood
- with pesto
- in pasta salad
Light and ethereal, these wispy strands do well with lighter, thinner sauces. Check out our recipes for angel hair pasta with green garlic cream sauce and angel hair pasta with spicy vodka sauce.
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with pesto
- with seafood
- with tomato
- with vegetables
Casarecce literally means “homemade,” owing to the pasta’s loose, free-form shape. Their crevices are great for soaking up sauce.
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
- in soup
“Cavare” means “to scoop” in Italian — appropriate for the hot-dog-bun-style crevices in cavatelli. They’re a signature shape in the southern Italian region of Puglia.
Cavaturi also have that scooped center, but they’re slightly longer and scroll-like.
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- in pasta salad
- in soup
Named for their conch-shell-like appearance, these tubes can hold ample amounts of liquid. Check out our recipe for pasta with arugula pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts with conchiglie.
- baked
- in pasta salad
- in soup
These “tiny fingers” are a classic choice for soups like pasta e fagioli, although they’re also great for soaking up cheese and sauce in baked dishes. Check out our pasta e fagioli recipe with ditalini.
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
- in soup
You may know them as bow ties, but these all-purpose shapes are actually named for fluttering butterflies. Check out our recipe for bow tie pasta with corn, thyme, and Parmesan.
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with tomato sauce
A versatile favorite, fettuccine are “little ribbons” that work famously well with Alfredo sauce. But they also hold steady against robust meat, seafood, and vegetables.
- in soup
- with tomato sauce
A Sardinian specialty, these grain-like bits add a chewy bite to soups and more. They’re usually toasted, which gives them a brown color. Check out our recipe for soup of fregula with baby clams (fregula kin arsellas).
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup and pasta salad
Fusilli is a short “spun” pasta with twisted surfaces that provide a chute for sauce to slide down. Check out our recipes for spinach pesto fusilli and fusilli with parsley, walnut, and black olive pesto.
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup
- in pasta salad
Also known as fusilli bucati, these long corkscrew spirals have a tiny hole inside each strand. Pasta impresarios originally made this shape by wrapping bucatini around knitting needles.
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in soup
- in pasta salad
Fusilli napoletani look like tightly twirled ribbons, although they have just enough space at their center to hold a range of sauces.
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- in soup and pasta salad
Gemelli are “twins,” named for their double-helix-shaped strands. Check out our recipe for dill, chickpea, and feta pasta salad with gemelli.
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
Similar to campanelle, gigli are a little bit tighter and frillier, resembling the lilies they’re named for (not that regrettable J. Lo movie from the early 2000s).
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
An oversized variation on conchiglie, these egg-size pieces are great for filling with cheese, chopped veggies, and more. Check out our Swiss chard stuffed shells recipe.
- baked
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with seafood
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
Long, flat, and narrow, linguine are best known for being paired with clam sauce, although they are versatile and suitable for use with a wide range of sauces.
- baked
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- vegetables
Named after snails, these large roly-poly shapes are big enough to stuff with cheese and veggies.
- baked
- with butter/oil
- with cream/cheese
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
Macaroni, of course, are iconic for their ability to hold cheese. It’s a pairing that has already gone down in history.
- with butter/oil
- with meat and tomato sauce
This Sardinian shape (a cousin to gnocchi) may resemble a grub, but its ridged surfaces and chewy, thick texture make it perfect for holding heavier sauces.
Check out this recipe for malloreddus with pork and pancetta (malloreddus kin purpuzza).
- baked
- with meat
- with tomato sauce
- with vegetables
These large tubes are a favorite shape for stuffing with ricotta or ground meat.
- with meat
- with vegetables
- with pesto
- with tomato sauce
- in pasta salad
These “little ears” are popular for their soft, rounded shape, which adapts easily to all manner of accompaniments.
- baked
- in pasta salad
- in soup
These rice-shaped pieces, which readily soak up flavor, are perfect for lightly dressed salads or baked casseroles.
- with tomato sauce and vegetables
These smooth, thumb-size tubes have their origins in Naples. They’re suited for tossing in tomato-based sauces, but you can also find them stuffed in some recipes.
These long, broad, and weighty egg noodles have the heft to hold up to heavy meat- and cream-based preparations.
Check out our recipe for fresh pappardelle with butternut squash. (This is an easy shape to master when making pasta at home.)
The tiniest pasta of them all! You can eat pastina almost like a porridge or add it to soups.
Smaller pasta shapes, interchangeably called “macaroni,” fall within the 1- to 2-inch range. They’re best served with thick, chunky sauces or baked into creamy casseroles. Their sturdy shapes also hold up well in pasta salads, though the smallest of the small are best in soups.
A trip down the pasta aisle can leave your head spinning. There are so many shapes, styles, and sizes. Use this easy-to-follow guide to learn which types of pasta you should use during your next pasta night.
Long, ribbon-cut pastas are often lumped into the “spaghetti” category, but there are actually many variations. These noodles pair well with pesto, fresh tomato, and wine- or butter-based sauces.
Tube-shaped pastas are also called “extruded pasta,” as they are made by forcing dough through a die to form various shapes. In artisan pasta-making traditions, bronze dies are used to create a coarser texture.
Some pastas are shaped specifically to hold other ingredients like cheese, meat, and vegetables. These types of pastas are best served in butter, cream, or tomato sauces to allow the flavorful filling to shine.
The Perfect Guide to Pasta Shapes | The Chiappas
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