Plot twist!
Does look like all the San Something Islands bloat the S total a little.
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I don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but Texas being Texas and all, there is always this option:
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Chili and pasta seems to be one of those Divided by the Atlantic things. Seems very, very wrong to me. Blockquote
Not just the Atlantic, I don’t think. I think it’s a midwest USA thing. Never heard of anybody that wasn’t in that strip down the middle of the US that did that, or Texas either.
It’s done in California for as long as I can remember. Chili, in my mind, is an American dish, not to be confused with Mexican beans or stews cooked with chilis.
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Not technically “chili and pasta” but my mom used to make “American Chop Suey” with ground beef, elbow macaroni, and a brownish sort of runoff.
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If I’m lucky enough to get to an Italian restaurant that makes pasta well in house, then any shape is a great shape. There was an absolutely dynamite place in downtown Seattle called Il Corvo with 3 fresh pasta offerings per day, and basically nothing else. I think Covid and related issues took it down, sadly.
I really like the texture of pasta when I make it at home, vs dried boxed, but I have little experience with it. In fact, the first time was a bit of a mess - funny in retrospect. The initial stab at dough made for a wrong consistency, but I could not tell to save my life if it was too dry or too wet, so I alternately added flour and water about 3 times each. Full on ridiculous. It reminded me of those blind taste tests on Top Chef when someone who knows food professionally loses their mind and can’t properly identify a strawberry, for instance.
Among the dried pastas, I would have to go with the long ones being my favorite. Spaghetti, angel hair. I like them thin, and I like to twirl, I guess. I’ve taken to buying 12 boxes or so at a time on Amazon when they have a good price on a fun shape that my grocery doesn’t carry. But my pantry is a bit embarrassing right now because of it. I may have about 50 boxes of pasta…
I probably only go out of my way to avoid bow ties. I find that the different thickness in the middle versus sides always leads to poor cooking. Overdone or underdone - never perfect. Somehow it’s less of an issue with mini versions of the same shape. I guess I also probably avoid wheelbarrows and alphabet, which would make me feel stupid and childish eating it. Maybe when I have grandkids!
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Here’s a new one. I haven’t tried it or even seen it anywhere.
Looks like it’s only available through mail-order. $4.49 per pound and shipping in 12 weeks. I’ll leave that one for others to try.
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Favorite shapes are Gemelli for its great body and poundability. Orecchiette BECAUSE IT CLUMPS TOGETHER, I love that. Thin spaghetti to fettuccine are all good with a variety of sauces. Manischewitz wide egg noodles and other wide egg noodle dishes with braised meats or ragu round out my choices.
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Agree about the big bow tie pasta, but utilized the mini version found in the pantry the other day; put it in an OG (macaroni!) salad, with tuna, Mayo, celery, peas, minced pickles, herbs, and etc. Oh, and a Walla Walla sweet onion. It was really good in a nostalgic sort of way, but tamed that particular craving for at least five years! Among my least favorite pasta shapes, along with penne. Can’t help it…
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Your salad sounds like a mainstay around here - a dinner we have at least monthly called “tuna mac.” Tuna, mayo, a little lemon juice a little evoo, chopped carrot, celery, sweet or green onion, pickles, and then mac cooked and rinsed in cold water. Pretty much everyone enjoys it! Not a five year itch 
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Yes, good point - it’s really too good to be relegated to every five years! H was skeptical, told him to think of it as cold tuna noodle casserole of sorts. I like it much better than he does though…also like the version with shrimp.
Ours is loosely based on a recipe in a pasta salad cookbook. There are different sections featuring veggie pasta salads, seafood, with chicken, etc. This was in the seafood, obvs. It basically like a chunky veggie tuna salad with some cold pasta mixed in. Quite tasty, fresh and healthy.
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I bought this and enjoyed it quite a bit. I found that the pasta tasted more strongly of the wheat than my typical de cecco - both sweeter and more savory. The texture is great, very meaty, with ripples along the edge contrasting nicely with the firm central ridge. So far I’ve only eaten it with pesto, which adheres really well. It’s pricey but a nice addition to the rotation.
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Cascatelli is certainly enjoying its 15 minutes of fame (and then some). We just listened to a podcast episode documenting its humble beginnings all the way to status symbol.
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I’m glad you posted this- I’m not the only pasta hoarder around. I bought a pasta machine many years ago, never did get the consistency right. Around that time De Cecco arrived on the scene and there started being fresh bagged pasta in the grocery refrigerated section so I gave up.
I think home-made is fun, and frankly to my taste, it is quite different from dried/boxed. It’s just that I don’t make the effort particularly often.
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Personally, I like the look of radiatore, but can’t think of one sauce I like it with.
Honestly, I love spaghetti and paccheri; but for most dishes I don’t need anything so substantial, so fideos are my most used pasta/fideo, whatever.
Somewhat in order of preference:
- pappardelle (meat or shrooms sauces)
- fettuccine / fettuce / linguine / tagliatelle / bucatini (cacio e pepe, carbonara, cream or seafood sauces)
- cavatappi / elbows (pasta salads, meat or shroom sauces)
- ravioli, triangoli, mezzalune (love to order stuffed pasta in restos, but don’t make at home much)
Not a fan of penne at all, dislike angel hair and most teeny tiny pasta shapes like ditalini. If I eat pasta I better know '-)
Orzo is good for yuvetsi & summer pasta salads.
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