How to Choose the Perfect Pasta for Your Meals

1. Rigatoni

This tube-shaped and usually ridged pasta is ideal for dense, heavy, wetter sauces and for baked dishes.

Try it with this recipe: Rustic Broiled Vegetable and Rigatoni Salad

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2. Penne

Narrower than Rigatoni and cut at angle, Penne is perfect for lighter tomato-based sauces.

Try it with this recipe: Penne Puttanesca

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3. Fusilli

The pasta Kramer used on Seinfeld to build a small statue of his silly friend Jerry is also ideal for adding to luncheon salads.

Try it with this recipe: Turkey and Fusilli Salad

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4. Spaghetti

The most popular pasta in Canadian restaurants is also perfect for lighter sauces and oil-and-garlic combinations.

Try it with this recipe: Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic

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5. Farfalle

This ribbon-shaped pasta is a natural for seafood pastas in lighter, cream-based sauces.

Try it with this recipe: Farfalle with Smoked Salmon

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6. Pappardelle

This wide pasta is great with heavy ragus of lamb or duck.

Try it with this recipe: Pappardelle with Braised Rabbit, Lardons, and Peas

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7. Orecchiette

The Italian word for ear, ‘Orecchiette’ goes best with dryer pasta sauces, like broccoli rabe with sausage and oil.

Try it with this recipe: Orecchiette with Rapini

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8. Radiatore

This classic radiator-looking pasta is usually most delicious when paired with heavier, wetter sauces.

Try it with this recipe: Radiatore with Pesto

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9. Bucatini

These long, narrow tubes are perfect for hearty, drier sauces containing meat or ham.

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10. Capelli d’Angelo

Better known as ‘angel-hair pasta,’ this pasta is ideal in broth-based pasta sauces.

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