Best pasta for sausage ragu

Fileja

Hand-formed · Calabria

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

Gnocchetti sardi

Short shapes · Sardinia

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

Gramigna

Short shapes · Emilia-Romagna

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

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.

Malloreddus

Hand-formed · Sardinia

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

Strascinati

Hand-formed · Basilicata

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

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.

Capunti

Hand-formed · Puglia

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lumache

Tubes · All of Italy

A cup and a tube in one piece.

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.

Mezzi rigatoni

Tubes · All of Italy

As rigatoni, with a shorter tube that fills more easily: sausage ragu, amatriciana, a chunky vegetable sauce, the oven.

Occhi di lupo

Tubes · Campania

As mezze maniche: sauces with pieces, a ragu, sausage, the oven.

Orecchiette

Hand-formed · Puglia

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

Pennoni

Tubes · All of Italy

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

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.

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.

Trottole

Short shapes · All of Italy

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

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.

Bigoli

Long strands · Veneto

Rough, thick, and heavy, bigoli takes sauces that a smooth spaghetti cannot: onion and anchovy, duck or rabbit ragu, sardines.

Casarecce

Short shapes · Sicily

A trough down the middle and a slight twist, so it carries pesto, ricotta, sausage crumbs, and a chunky vegetable sauce.

Lasagnette

Ribbons · All of Italy

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

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.

Pizzarelle

Hand-formed · Lazio

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

Rigatoni

Tubes · Lazio

The widest bore of the everyday tubes, so pieces of sausage, eggplant, or braised meat ride inside it.

Stringozzi

Ribbons · Umbria

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

Mezze maniche

Tubes · All of Italy

Short and wide, so each piece fills with sauce: carbonara, gricia, amatriciana, a sausage ragu.

Cascatelli

Short shapes · United States

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

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.