What to use instead of candele
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.
The closest swap: ziti
A narrower smooth tube, also sold long.
Candele is tubes, 400 to 500 mm long, 13 to 17 minutes in the pot. Ziti sits in the tubes family and cooks in 11 to 14 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for candele, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Ziti
Tubes · Campania
A narrower smooth tube, also sold long (chosen)
- 2
Rigatoni
Tubes · Lazio
The ridged short equivalent (chosen)
- 3
Paccheri
Tubes · Campania
Wider and shorter (chosen)
- 4
Mostaccioli
Tubes · United States
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 5
Tortiglioni
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 6
Calamarata
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 7
Cannelloni
Tubes · Campania
Same family, also hollow, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 8
Mezzi rigatoni
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, shares 2 sauces, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Candele is listed against 4 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for ragu napoletano: Whole cuts of meat braised for hours in tomato. The sauce dresses the pasta; the meat is the second course. Ziti and paccheri.
- Best pasta for meat ragu: Any slow meat sauce with solids in it. It wants a shape with a cavity: a wide tube, a cup, or a broad ribbon.
- Best pasta for baked (al forno): Pasta finished in the oven with sauce and cheese, or stuffed and baked. It needs a sturdy shape that survives twice cooking.
- Best pasta for pomodoro: Tomato, olive oil, garlic or onion, basil. Smooth and light. Almost any shape works; the classic is spaghetti or penne.
Side by side
The measured difference between candele and each swap.