The best pasta shapes for mac and cheese
Mac and cheese is a thick emulsion of cheese and starch, and the shape has to carry it in a cavity. Elbows are the original for a reason: each one is a short bent tube that fills with sauce. Cavatappi add a spiral and ridges. Shells cup the sauce. Pipe rigate are elbows with a ridged surface and a closed end, so the sauce stays put.
Skip long strands and smooth short shapes. The sauce slides off them and pools at the bottom of the dish.
6 shapes, A to Z.
Campanelle
Short shapes · All of Italy
cone rolled from a ruffled sheet, open like a bell. cooks in 9 to 12 min
Cavatappi
Tubes · All of Italy
hollow ridged tube wound into a corkscrew. cooks in 8 to 10 min
Chifferi
Tubes · All of Italy
short curved elbow tube, usually ridged. cooks in 8 to 10 min
Conchiglie
Short shapes · All of Italy
cupped shell with ridges on the outside. cooks in 10 to 13 min
Macaroni
Tubes · Campania
short narrow smooth tube, straight or curved into an elbow. cooks in 7 to 10 min
Radiatori
Short shapes · All of Italy
squat cylinder with deep fins, like a car radiator. cooks in 10 to 12 min