What to use instead of strozzapreti

The closest swap: casarecce

Every swap for strozzapreti, 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. 1
   

   Casarecce

   Short shapes · Sicily

   A rolled strip, shorter (chosen)

2. 2
   

   Gemelli

   Short shapes · All of Italy

   A twisted strand (chosen)

3. 3
   

   Trofie

   Hand-formed · Liguria

   A smaller hand-rolled twist (chosen)

4. 4
   

   Gnocchetti sardi

   Short shapes · Sardinia

   Same family, also solid, shares 4 sauces, close in size

5. 5
   

   Fusilli

   Short shapes · Campania

   Same family, also solid, shares 3 sauces, close in size

6. 6
   

   Foglie d'ulivo

   Short shapes · Puglia

   Same family, also solid, also rough, shares 2 sauces

7. 7
   

   Rotini

   Short shapes · United States

   Same family, also solid, shares 2 sauces, close in size

8. 8
   

   Cascatelli

   Short shapes · United States

   Same family, also solid, shares 3 sauces

Match the sauce, not the look

Strozzapreti is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.

• 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 sausage ragu: Crumbled sausage, often with fennel, cooked in tomato or white wine. Orecchiette in Puglia, rigatoni everywhere else.
• 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 pesto alla genovese: Basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, pecorino, olive oil. Raw and oily. Trofie and trenette are the Ligurian pairings.
• 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 strozzapreti and each swap.