Best pasta shape?

[WhoWants2Know]

A man stopped me in the supermarket to ask what was the best pasta shape. (He said he hated pasta from taste testing it for years but was cooking for someone else)

I said Spirali, my oldest says penne.

If you had to choose one shape, which is your go-to?

It really depends on the sauce! Each dish I make, I will do the pasta that works best for the sauce.

My personal favourite at the moment is orecchiette, it’s not as easy to get good quality orecchiette as it used to be though (sad times).

The only pasta I've ever made by hand is orecchiette because you don't need a masts machine. It was bloody delicious. But I'm too lazy to do it again.

*pasta machine

My Tesco still does orchiette, which is my favourite for pasta salad. It's also the only pasta I know how to make fresh.

But the sauce dictates the pasta you use. Have none of you been to Italy?! 😂

I like lumaconi (large snail shells) best, because it works well with meaty ragu type sauces, it works well when baked too, and it's versatile, use as a main dish or a neatly stuffed smaller portion as a starter course. But mainly I like how visually pleasing the shape is.

I also like linguine for lighter seafood or summer dishes, and I think it's useful for children being introduced to eating pasta as it's very easy to twist onto a fork.

I agree that the sauce usually determines the shape of the pasta. But there are some shapes I just don't like as much with any kind of sauce 🤣

@WhoWants2Know ah I will try it - I have a feeling they used to do a really good one, then stopped but brought back one that wasn’t as good quality. But I haven’t tried in years so I must give it another go. We were on holiday in Puglia a few years ago and orrechiette was unbelievable.

My DD loves orzo pasta - also great for salads.

Agree it depends on the sauce though, I prefer Bolognaise with penne or Farfalle to spaghetti though.

Rigatoni! Love it so much I named my dog after it :)

Love this! 😂

Fusilli by a mile.

Spiralli

Linguine. Spaghetti close second. Can't abide macaroni.

Bows?! They're butterflies! And they are also the best.

Bows for me too!!
They just look fancier 😂

Fusili its all i buy the dcs won't eat any other.

Depends on the sauce. I like really large shells or fusili for pasta bakes and linguine instead of spaghetti.

Yeah it depends what sauce you’re having with it.

spaghetti is a good all-rounder though.

Sauce dependent!

Twisty ones. I hate penne.

That chart is wrong. For example aglio/olio would be oil based but shouldn't be with ravioli.

I'm in Italy (orecchiette country to be precise) and not only does it depend on the sauce, but also the region. There are some pasta shapes I've had in the UK that I've never seen here, and vice versa. Dp is also chef, so it's been like a taxi driver in London having to do the Knowledge really.
When I was still in the UK I think I used to have spaghetti, conchiglie or penne but I don't think I've seen a shell in almost 30 years. It's seasonal as well- orecchiette is winter pasta because you eat it with turnip tops (which is why Jamie and everyone have tweaked it to sprouting broccoli)

Farfalle are fucking useless though. We have them with salmon and cream but the middle bit never cooks properly. Yack.

Mafalda corta or conchiglie.

I like cassarecce (might be spelt wrong), macaroni and fettuccine. And lasagne. Pretty much all pasta to be honest.

I have an irrational hatred of penne, but I love rigatoni and they're not that much different really

Farfalle are fucking useless though. We have them with salmon and cream but the middle bit never cooks properly. Yack.

THIS!

Either the outer bit is too cooked or the inner bit is raw. Rank. So glad I have been vindicated because the heathens in my house don't agree but I've lived in Italy so va fan culo to them.