What to use instead of trenette
Pesto. The raw oily paste clings to the flat face, and the potato and beans cooked in the same water complete the dish. Oil and seafood sauces work the same way.
The closest swap: linguine
The same shape on most shelves.
Trenette is long strands, 250 to 260 mm long, 9 to 12 minutes in the pot. Linguine sits in the long strands family and cooks in 9 to 11 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 trenette, 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
Linguine
Long strands · Liguria
The same shape on most shelves (chosen)
- 2
Fettuccine
Ribbons · Lazio
Wider, for a heavier plate (chosen)
- 3
Spaghetti
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 4
Spaghettini
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Vermicelli
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 6
Capellini
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 7
Fedelini
Long strands · Liguria
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce, close in size
- 8
Spaghettoni
Long strands · Campania
Same family, also solid, also smooth, close in size
Match the sauce, not the look
Trenette is listed against 3 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- 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 vongole: Clams, garlic, white wine, parsley, olive oil. Thin and briny. Spaghetti or linguine; nothing that competes with the shell.
- 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.
Side by side
The measured difference between trenette and each swap.