What to use instead of stelline
Broth. Or a spoonful of tomato passata for a child. Nothing to hold sauce.
The closest swap: acini di pepe
Beads of the same size.
Stelline is pastina, 3 to 5 mm long, 5 to 7 minutes in the pot. Acini di pepe sits in the pastina 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 stelline, 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
Acini di pepe
Pastina · All of Italy
Beads of the same size (chosen)
- 2
Pastina
Pastina · All of Italy
Any tiny shape (chosen)
- 3
Alphabet pasta
Pastina · All of Italy
Letters, for the same soups (chosen)
- 4
Orzo
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 5
Semi di melone
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Ditalini
Pastina · Campania
Same family, also smooth, shares 3 sauces, close in size
- 7
Farfalline
Pastina · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 8
Anelli
Pastina · Sicily
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Stelline is listed against 3 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 minestrone: A thick vegetable soup with beans and a small pasta added at the end. Ditalini, conchigliette, or anellini.
- 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 stelline and each swap.