What to use instead of farfalline
Soup, or a simple tomato for a child. The pinch stays firm.
The closest swap: farfalle
The full size.
Farfalline is pastina, 8 to 12 mm long, 6 to 9 minutes in the pot. Farfalle sits in the short shapes family and cooks in 10 to 12 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 farfalline, 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
Farfalle
Short shapes · Lombardy
The full size (chosen)
- 2
Quadrucci
Pastina · Lazio
Small egg squares (chosen)
- 3
Ditalini
Pastina · Campania
Tiny tubes (chosen)
- 4
Alphabet pasta
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Anelli
Pastina · Sicily
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Orzo
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 7
Stelline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 8
Acini di pepe
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Farfalline is listed against 3 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for minestrone: A thick vegetable soup with beans and a small pasta added at the end. Ditalini, conchigliette, or anellini.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- 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 farfalline and each swap.