You may have seen many different types of pasta shapes in the market as well as takeaway outlets and restaurants. There is a reason to have different shapes of pasta. These can add uniqueness to the dish and different shapes will hold sauce differently. The shape of the pasta will determine how the dish will be served.
When you contact Ocean Grove pasta for their renowned pasta, you will be able to give your preference on certain shapes as well. But generally, the dish will come with the shape of pasta that the restaurant recommends. There are outlets that let the customer decide on the shape of pasta for the dish as well. One of the common shapes that we are familiar with is spaghetti. You can use this with or without sauce. Generally, you will find loose and sweet tomato sauces with spaghetti.
Penne spaghetti is another common shape that we are familiar with and these are tubular-shaped pasta that has ridges. These ridges help sauces to cling to the pasta so you are able to enjoy the perfect amount of pasta and sauce in one bite. Rigatoni pasta is similar to penne in that they are shaped like tubes with ridges on the outside surface. But they are much larger than penne and can be great in a chunky vegetable sauce.
Linguini is a shape that is similar to spaghetti. But it is more of a flattened shape so it has more surface area. This allows it to cling to light sauces that are cream-based or incorporate seafood. Another shape similar to spaghetti is bucatini. It is a much fatter and larger spaghetti and it has a hole that goes through its centre. This is used with thick sauces and the hole allows the gravy to make its way into the pasta itself creating a more delicious bite. You may have seen pasta shaped like shells or ears. This type is called orecchiette. The reason for the shell-like form is that these shells can hold heavy sauces within. Usually, vegetable-based sauces will be used with this shape. You can also use this shape when you are making a pasta bake.
Macaroni is a type of pasta that is enjoyed by kids worldwide and this is a pasta shape that resembles small tubes. These are usually found in a cheese sauce to be baked. There is no need for this shape to hold sauce as it is generously coated with the sauce when baked. Fusilli and spirali pasta resemble corkscrews. The fusilli has a tighter spiral when compared to spirali pasta. Chunky sauces with pieces of meat are great for this pasta as the sauce can coat these spirals beautifully. There are also butterfly-shaped pasta called farfalle and they have two parts resembling two wings. You can use these in cold pasta salads and these wings are able to hold sauces just like the orecchiette. There is also sheet pasta called lasagne and they can be rolled to make cannelloni as well.
