When I grow up I will be able to twirl long pasta into your fabulous coiled towers. Stunning.
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I like capellini n.1 and farfalle most of all
I use molds (the silver rings are molds for professional chefs) for most of my dishes so that it turns out on plate as a visual enchantment !
I guess after the boys (twins now 27 and both married), when i do cook at home, I like to provide a special touch or two to what I am serving my dear or my family …
I think many people just throw on the plate as they are coming from work and do not have time to do art of plating … They are hungry and tired. However with Covid – we all have been home more and so, it is a “therapy” for me to create something beautiful … And my dear truly appreciates it and does same. He is a marvelous Home Gourmet …
Have a lovely weekend ! Thanks for the compliment too …
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Many thanks. You are my goddess.
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This is quite a compliment.
Thank you.
All my best wishes during these challenging
times.
Recently new to me, trottole. Pictured dry. When cooked, some of them relax into loose curlicues similar to cavatappi but narrower. Trottole makes goid mac&cheese and holds both thin and thick sauces well.
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I bought some trottole for the first time a few months ago and really like it. I had never seen it before. Kroger’s Private Selection brand was what I found.
15 minute handmade fettuccine for shrimp scampi. Because it’s simple, fast, perfect shape for flavors to attach and finally there’s no substitute for fresh.
Flat and round because that’s the starting shape for jiaozi.
Rotini for baked macaroni and cheese. 
….yes I wrote that.
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Growing up in an Italian house, I admit I am very much “over” eating pasta. (Does macaroni and cheese actually count as a “pasta dish”?)
Anyway, I would say my two favorites are penne and rigatoni. If I’m having pasta, I want a thick one. Nothing beats a large, puffy, freshly made rigatoni (especially in my creamy marsala sauce).
Of course, certain dishes call for certain pastas. If I’m doing sausage and broccoli rabe, I am using orecchiette. I was going to say meatballs call for spaghetti, but I like neither, and the thought of them together would simply cause me to fill myself up on bread before the meal. I’m a weird Italian. I said in WFD last week that I’ve never made spaghetti and meatballs for myself in my entire life.
I would imagine my “blah” attitude would be common with many ethnicities and their standby’s. For example, my BF grew up in a Spanish household and depending on the night holds a similar attitude towards rice.
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I like both, but not together. Give me a Bolognese or an American-style meat/red sauce with that spaghetti, please. I don’t want to have to cut up a meatball and try to pick up a piece of it with a twirl of pasta. A meatball sandwich, though? YES PLEASE.
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I love radiatori, but I’ll admit to sticker-shock when I saw the prices on that brand in my local fancy-food store. I think it was $8.00 for the 500g. A local supermarket has radiatori in bulk for about $1.25/lb (Berkeley Bowl, Berkeley, CA). I might get that brand some day to compare, when I’m feeling flush.
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Pappardelle. Right now I can’t say why. I don’t often eat pasta , but if I was going to eat pasta, it would be because papparadelle was on the menu.
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I like Radiatori a lot, used to find it all the time. It was our “go to” for pasta salads (I know, blasphemy - but the oil and vinegar type, not the mayo type if that makes it any better). Years back every brand made it but come to think of it I haven’t seen it in a long time (don’t eat pasta salad that often).
But one of my favorite shapes is Lumaconi (there are a few other names that it goes by - Lumache, Lumachine, conchiglie) - its a snail shaped pasta, - tube shaped, curved, and sort of pinched closed on one side. I’ve seen people stuff them but I just like them in a chunky style sauce - holds all the goodness really well.
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I think Pipette are the same shape, or very similar. I like to further adulterate my unofficial pasta carbonara by using pipette and tossing in some thawed frozen green peas at the end. The peas retain a firm texture, and almost all of them nest into the cups of the pasta pieces.
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Coincidentally, Berkeley Bowl also has those in the bulk section. I had them with a pork and bean ragout this week.
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Like @shrinkrap, I crush pretty hard on pappardelle, or tagliatelle, especially our house made. Otherwise, too hard to pick a favorite, but I like cavatappi a lot. Least favorite is penne, not sure why.
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Oh my- I love pasta. My favorites, I think are linguine, bucatini, cavatappi, and I’d LOVE to get my hands on some of the garganelli pictured above. I don’t follow any established rules about what goes with what, I tend to follow my instincts, which may well be frowned upon by some. But it always turns out well- to me, at least.
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