Best pasta for pomodoro

Culurgiones

Stuffed · Sardinia

A rich potato and cheese filling under a thick semolina skin.

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.

Sagne 'ncannulate

Hand-formed · Puglia

A wide twisted strip holds a thick tomato in the spiral.

Sedani

Tubes · All of Italy

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

Troccoli

Long strands · Puglia

A thick rough square strand for tomato with cacioricotta, a seafood sauce with mussels, or a meat ragu.

Cannelloni

Tubes · Campania

The tube is a container.

Conchiglioni

Short shapes · All of Italy

A container for a filling.

Foglie d'ulivo

Short shapes · Puglia

A flat rough leaf coats well and takes light sauces: pesto, oil and cherry tomatoes, a vegetable sauce, a light seafood dressing.

Gnocchetti sardi

Short shapes · Sardinia

Ridged shells hold sausage, tomato, pesto, and cheese.

Lorighittas

Hand-formed · Sardinia

A braided ring with a lot of surface, traditionally served with a chicken or rooster ragu, or a simple tomato and pecorino.

Maccheroncini di Campofilone

Ribbons · Marche

So thin that they absorb whatever they are dressed with, and so fragile that the sauce must be added, not tossed.

Manicotti

Tubes · United States

A stuffed tube under the oven.

Pici

Long strands · Tuscany

Thick, rough, and chewy, pici needs a sauce with force: garlic and tomato, breadcrumbs fried in oil, a game ragu.

Pizzarelle

Hand-formed · Lazio

Thick and chewy: beans, a tomato with pecorino, a sausage sauce.

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.

Rotelle

Short shapes · All of Italy

The spokes catch small pieces and a light sauce.

Spaghetti

Long strands · Campania

A strand has no cavity and no ridges, so a sauce must coat it.

Stringozzi

Ribbons · Umbria

Rough and thick, so it holds an oily truffle paste or a garlic and tomato sauce without help.

Tortelloni

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

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

Busiate

Hand-formed · Sicily

A long loose coil with a bore, so it holds a thick pesto in every turn: trapanese, pistachio, or a Norma-style eggplant sauce.

Calamarata

Tubes · Campania

A wide ring with a big bore, so it takes a seafood sauce with pieces: squid, prawns, clams in a light 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.

Farfalline

Pastina · All of Italy

Soup, or a simple tomato for a child.

Fileja

Hand-formed · Calabria

A rough hollow coil for the spicy sauces of Calabria: 'nduja and tomato, a pork ragu, a goat ragu.

Fusilli lunghi

Long strands · Campania

The spiral traps sauce in its coils and the bore takes some inside, so it carries more than a plain strand.

Gemelli

Short shapes · All of Italy

The twist holds a light sauce in its groove without the deep pockets of fusilli, so it suits smoother dressings: pesto, oil and vegetables, a light tomato, a thin cream.

Gnocchi

Hand-formed · All of Italy

Soft, absorbent, and heavy, gnocchi need a sauce that is rich but not chunky: butter and sage, gorgonzola cream, a smooth tomato, pesto, a fine ragu.

Gramigna

Short shapes · Emilia-Romagna

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

Maccheroni al ferretto

Hand-formed · Calabria

Rough, chewy, and hollow, so they carry the heaviest southern sauces: pork ragu, goat ragu, 'nduja, a slow tomato with pecorino.

Malloreddus

Hand-formed · Sardinia

A ridged chewy shell, so it holds a sausage and tomato sauce, a meat ragu, or a pecorino dressing.

Mostaccioli

Tubes · United States

As penne lisce: tomato, meat sauce, and the oven.

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.

Perciatelli

Long strands · Campania

As bucatini: a sauce with body that can fill the bore.

Rotini

Short shapes · United States

As fusilli: sauces and dressings with pieces that catch in the twist.

Scialatielli

Ribbons · Campania

Thick and rough with a cheese-and-herb dough, it stands up to shellfish and holds a light seafood sauce in its uneven surface.

Stelline

Pastina · All of Italy

Broth.

Strascinati

Hand-formed · Basilicata

Rough, thick, and open, so they take a sausage ragu, fried crumbs and dried peppers, or a tomato with ricotta.

Tortelli

Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna

Brown butter and parmesan for almost all of them.

Trofie

Hand-formed · Liguria

A tight rough twist made for pesto.

Vesuvio

Short shapes · Campania

A dense spiral with pockets between the turns, so it carries a Neapolitan ragu, a sausage sauce, or a thick tomato with ricotta.

Ziti

Tubes · Campania

A smooth tube holds sauce inside the bore rather than on the surface, so it wants a sauce with enough body to fill it: a slow ragu, the Neapolitan onion Genovese, a baked tomato and cheese.

Bucatini

Long strands · Lazio

The bore takes in sauce, so bucatini wants a sauce with more body than a strand normally takes: amatriciana, a gricia, a tomato with guanciale, a loose ragu.

Candele

Tubes · Campania

Broken into uneven lengths, the wide smooth tube fills with a slow sauce and holds it: the Neapolitan Genovese, a ragu napoletano, a baked dish.

Capellini

Long strands · Campania

There is almost no mass to carry sauce, so the sauce must be nearly weightless: butter, lemon, a splash of oil, a raw tomato, a little broth.

Capunti

Hand-formed · Puglia

Three hollows in a chewy piece, so it carries greens, beans, and a sausage sauce.

Ditali

Tubes · Campania

Short and open at both ends, so they fill with soup and hold beans and vegetables.

Fedelini

Long strands · Liguria

Light and fast, like spaghettini.

Fusilli

Short shapes · Campania

The spiral grooves trap sauce along their whole length, so fusilli takes chunky and creamy sauces that a smooth shape sheds: pesto, a vegetable ragu, tomato with ricotta, a cold dressing.

Macaroni

Tubes · Campania

A small smooth tube with a curve, so it holds a cheese sauce inside and a dressing in the bend.

Maltagliati

Ribbons · Emilia-Romagna

Thin irregular pieces with lots of edge, so they suit soups and loose sauces that they can float in: beans, chickpeas, a broth, a light tomato.

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.

Spaghettini

Long strands · Campania

Less mass per strand means less sauce per mouthful, so the sauce should be light and fast.

Trottole

Short shapes · All of Italy

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

Vermicelli

Long strands · Campania

Treat Italian vermicelli as a slightly heavy spaghetti: clams, garlic and oil, tomato.

Cavatelli

Hand-formed · Puglia

A dense chewy shell with a hollow, so it carries a ragu, broccoli or greens with garlic, a sausage sauce, and beans.

Ditalini

Pastina · Campania

A tiny tube cooks in the liquid it is served in and holds a bean or a pea in its bore.

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.

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.

Orecchiette

Hand-formed · Puglia

A rough cup with a thick centre and a thin rim.

Orzo

Pastina · All of Italy

Small grains cook in broth or absorb a light dressing.

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.

Tortiglioni

Tubes · Campania

Spiral ridges hold sauce the same way straight ones do, so it takes ragu, sausage, tomato with pieces, and baked dishes.

Tubetti

Tubes · Campania

As ditali: soups, bean and potato stews, a thick tomato.

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.