What to use instead of fedelini
Light and fast, like spaghettini. Butter, oil, a clear broth, a fresh tomato. It goes limp under anything with weight.
The closest swap: spaghettini
A touch thicker, same use.
Fedelini is long strands, 250 to 260 mm long, 5 to 7 minutes in the pot. Spaghettini sits in the long strands family and cooks in 6 to 9 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 fedelini, 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
Spaghettini
Long strands · Campania
A touch thicker, same use (chosen)
- 2
Capellini
Long strands · Campania
A touch thinner, same use (chosen)
- 3
Vermicelli
Long strands · Campania
The thin export grade (chosen)
- 4
Linguine
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Spaghetti
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Su filindeu
Long strands · Sardinia
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 7
Trenette
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 8
Pici
Long strands · Tuscany
Same family, also solid, shares 2 sauces, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Fedelini is listed against 4 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- Best pasta for lemon and butter: Butter, lemon zest and juice, parmesan, pasta water. Light and bright. Thin strands and delicate ribbons.
- Best pasta for aglio e olio: Garlic, olive oil, chili, parsley. The thinnest sauce there is. It needs a strand that it can coat, with nothing to hide in.
- 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 fedelini and each swap.