Mangia Bene Pasta
Tip of the Week: Choosing the Perfect Pasta!
When I’m in the pasta aisle at the market, I tend to choose penne or orzo, with little variation! Little did I know that there is actually a method for selecting the appropriate pasta shape to pair with the sauce at hand!
Long Pasta – such as spaghetti, vermicelli, linguine or angel hair, is best paired with smooth tomato or oil-based sauces that aren’t too heavy or chunky for the pasta.
Long Straws - such as perciatelli or bucatini, is perfect for pesto, cheese or cream sauces because the pasta can be coated both inside and out.
Short - such as farfalle, fusilli, oreccheitte, shells, gemilli and radiatore, are very versatile and work well with butter, cheese, tomato, meat, vegetable and light oil-based sauces.
Short Tubes - such as penne, rigatoni and ziti, are well suited to meat, vegetable and chunky tomato sauces.
Small – such as pastina , ditalini, orzo, tubettini, farfalline, stelline are best used in broths and soups.
Wide – such as tagliatelle, fettuccine, pappardelle, lasagna and mofolda, are substantial enough to work with cream, cheese and thick meat sauces.
I hope that this guide offers you some inspiration the next time that you are shopping for pasta! Thanks to Good Housekeeping for inspiring this tip!
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