What to use instead of sedani
Ridged and curved, so it grips smooth and medium sauces: tomato, a light ragu, cream with vegetables. Too narrow for big pieces.
The closest swap: penne
A straight tube of similar width.
Sedani is tubes, 35 to 45 mm long, 10 to 12 minutes in the pot. Penne sits in the tubes 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 sedani, 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
Penne
Tubes · Liguria
A straight tube of similar width (chosen)
- 2
Rigatoni
Tubes · Lazio
Wider, for chunkier sauces (chosen)
- 3
Cavatappi
Tubes · All of Italy
A curved hollow spiral (chosen)
- 4
Pennette
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, also ridged, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Chifferi
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, also ridged, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 6
Lumache
Tubes · All of Italy
Same family, also hollow, also ridged, shares 3 sauces
- 7
Manicotti
Tubes · United States
Same family, also hollow, also ridged, shares 3 sauces
- 8
Mostaccioli
Tubes · United States
Same family, also hollow, shares 3 sauces, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Sedani is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are 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.
- 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 cream sauce: Panna with cheese, mushrooms, ham, or peas. Heavy and clinging. Ridges and cups keep it on the pasta.
- Best pasta for vegetable ragu: Diced vegetables cooked slowly in tomato or oil. Zucchini, peppers, eggplant. Short shapes with folds.
- 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.
Side by side
The measured difference between sedani and each swap.