Best pasta for cream sauce

Campanelle

Short shapes · All of Italy

A hollow cone with a frilled edge, so it carries thick creamy and chunky sauces: cheese sauce, sausage and cream, a vegetable ragu, a thick tomato.

Creste di gallo

Short shapes · All of Italy

Tube, ridges, and a ruffle, so it takes cream, cheese, a sausage sauce, and a thick tomato.

Farfalle

Short shapes · Lombardy

The wings are flat and the pinch is dense, so farfalle does best with sauces that coat rather than fill: cream with peas and salmon, a light tomato, pesto, a cold dressing.

Garganelli

Tubes · Emilia-Romagna

Egg dough, ridges, and a bore, so they absorb and hold a rich sauce: ragu, cream with peas and ham, a butter and prosciutto dressing.

Lumache

Tubes · All of Italy

A cup and a tube in one piece.

Pipe rigate

Tubes · All of Italy

A ridged cup with a bore, so it captures cream, cheese, and sauces with small pieces: peas and ham, sausage crumbs, a vegetable ragu, a thick tomato.

Radiatori

Short shapes · All of Italy

Deep fins trap everything.

Trottole

Short shapes · All of Italy

A coiled ribbon takes cream and chunky sauces: sausage, mushrooms, a thick tomato, a vegetable ragu.

Caramelle

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

Butter and sage, or a light cream, or a few roast juices.

Cascatelli

Short shapes · United States

Designed for sauce: the trough holds it, the ruffle grips it, and the curve keeps it on the fork.

Gramigna

Short shapes · Emilia-Romagna

Thin curls with a bore, so sausage crumbs and a little cream cling to them.

Lasagnette

Ribbons · All of Italy

Wide and ruffled, so it wants weight: ragu, mushroom cream, a sausage sauce, or the oven.

Mezzelune

Stuffed · Trentino-Alto Adige

Butter, browned, with parmesan, sage, or chives.

Tortellini

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

Made for broth.

Cannelloni

Tubes · Campania

The tube is a container.

Cappelletti

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

In broth, like tortellini.

Cavatappi

Tubes · All of Italy

Three ways to hold sauce at once, so it takes cheese sauces, cream, pesto, dressings, and a light ragu.

Conchiglie

Short shapes · All of Italy

A cup fills with whatever is in the pan: cheese sauce, cream with peas, a sausage crumble, a chunky tomato.

Conchiglioni

Short shapes · All of Italy

A container for a filling.

Sedani

Tubes · All of Italy

Ridged and curved, so it grips smooth and medium sauces: tomato, a light ragu, cream with vegetables.

Strozzapreti

Short shapes · Emilia-Romagna

Rough, twisted, and long enough to hold, so it takes a ragu, a sausage sauce, cream with mushrooms, and a pesto.

Tortelloni

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

A mild ricotta filling wants butter and sage, brown butter with parmesan, or a light tomato.

Fettuccine

Ribbons · Lazio

A ribbon has a broad flat face, so butter, cream, and cheese emulsions coat it evenly and a ragu rides on top.

Lasagne

Sheets · Emilia-Romagna

A sheet is a layer.

Mafaldine

Ribbons · Campania

The frilled edges trap a sauce that a flat ribbon would shed, so it handles ragu, sausage, and cream with pieces in them.

Penne

Tubes · Liguria

The bore carries sauce inside and the ridges hold it outside, so penne takes any sauce with body: arrabbiata, vodka sauce, a vegetable ragu, cream with peas and ham, and the oven.

Pennoni

Tubes · All of Italy

A wide bore and long ridges, so it takes ragu, sausage, cream with mushrooms, and the oven.

Ravioli

Stuffed · All of Italy

The filling carries the flavour, so the sauce stays simple and smooth: brown butter with sage, a light tomato, a little cream, or a broth.

Tagliatelle

Ribbons · Emilia-Romagna

A wide porous egg ribbon holds a meat ragu on its surface and absorbs the fat, which is why Bologna refuses spaghetti for the same sauce.

Chifferi

Tubes · All of Italy

Curved and ridged, it holds a cheese sauce or a dressing in the bend and on the grooves.

Pappardelle

Ribbons · Tuscany

The broadest face of any ribbon, so it carries the heaviest sauces: wild boar, hare, duck, a mushroom sauce with body, a slow beef ragu.

Penne lisce

Tubes · Liguria

Without ridges, sauce clings less to the outside, so penne lisce suits smooth sauces that fill the bore: tomato, a light cream, the Sicilian Norma, or a baked dish where the cheese does the holding.

Pennette

Tubes · All of Italy

Small tubes take smooth and light sauces: tomato, a simple cream, pesto, an oil dressing for a cold salad.