10 Common Pasta Types and Dishes They are Used For

Pasta is among the authentic Italian food dishes that have been adopted by many countries, aside from pizza, antipasti, as well as pastries. Pasta is versatile, delicious, and easy to prepare – you only have to cook it in boiling water and then pair it with the appropriate sauces.

Nothing makes pasta better than a good homemade meal. Making your own pasta can be both fun and easy. Whether you use a pasta machine or do it by hand, making pasta from scratch just gets better! Just adding to your already overflowing repertoire of tried-and-true Italian dishes will make pasta night even more special or simply add to your already overflowing menu of classic Italian dishes.

You can make pasta night special or simply add to your list of standard dishes from your own kitchen by experimenting with different types of Italian pasta varieties.

When choosing a pasta type for a recipe, there is no right or wrong choice. But you have to note that specific shapes and types of pasta work better in certain recipes. For instance, long pasta types, such as fettuccine, spaghetti, and linguine, can be paired with creamy sauces as they can easily soak the flavour.

But even when they suit well with creamy sauces, every long pasta has an ideal partner sauce. Spaghetti pasta noodles are generally paired with meat and marinara sauce. Fettuccine, which is a wider, flatter, and thinner pasta than spaghetti, suits well with creamy sauces partnered with seafood, chicken, or Alfredo sauce. Accordingly, linguine, a flattened and ribbon-like pasta, also works well with cream-based sauces and seafood.

Tubular and short pasta types, such as penne, macaroni, rigatoni, fusilli, and farfalle, are often paired with heavy sauces. This is because tube pasta types have a hollow centre which can help hold the sauce well. It is also the same with short pasta.

Macaroni, a tube-shaped pasta with a C shape, can be used in mac 'n cheese recipes. Since it is hollow in the centre and is short in size, it can also be used for soups and salads. Consequently, it is not recommended to be served with traditional red sauce.

Farfalle, also known as "bow-tie" pasta, is precisely shaped like a bow-tie. It's small enough to be used in a variety of creamy sauces as well as pasta salads. It can also hold sauce well because of its wide "wings." You can pair it with cheese or rich tomato sauce, and it is great for a cold pasta salad.

Penne pasta has a round tube-like shape and has diagonal cuts at both ends. It is best served with a thick cream sauce, such as tomato sauce or vegetable, because it adheres well to the pasta. In addition, this type of tube pasta is also great for oven-baked pasta dishes. To make a simple and delicious dish using penne pasta, you can combine it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Rigatoni is also a cylinder-shaped pasta, like penne, and has tiny ridges at the edges. However, when compared to penne, it is wider and more straight. Rigatoni pasta is larger in shape; hence, it is best served with thick and chunky sauces such as Pesto. Pesto can be made using a combination of oil, cheese, garlic, nuts, oil, and basil.

Sheet pasta is best used in oven-baked dishes, as this pasta type holds up well in the oven. Lasagne is the most common type of sheet pasta. Consequently, the most well-known dish that uses lasagne is lasagna al Forno, which consists of beef or pork and bechamel sauce between layers of lasagne and topped with cheese.

Lastly, filled pasta is the pasta type that typically is shaped in squares and has stuffing inside. Ravioli is the most common type of filled pasta, and it is often loaded with cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables. This type of filled pasta can be topped with sauce, served in soup, or just drizzled with olive oil as it already has fillings inside.

Each pasta recipe requires a particular type of pasta, sauces, and other ingredients. And as mentioned earlier, there are many types of pasta, and they come in different shapes and sizes.

Understanding the differences in pasta types and the appropriate preparation methods will allow you to make delicious pasta dishes that your family and friends will enjoy. The following infographic by Cirelli & Co, an Italian restaurant in Brunswick, lists down and discusses the ten common types of pasta and the dishes they can be perfectly paired with.

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