Recipes

[dogsx3]

Rigatoini and bowtie...I could never eat reg spaghetti noodles, reminds me of worms...

[Chicagosuburbangirl]

Rigatoni by Racconto brand, slightly undercooked.

[simplyfriends]

My favorite is bow tie.... it holds the sauce. This photo is bow tie with pancetta and leeks.... so yummy 😋 

[alarmclock]

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@x Hedge wrote:
Oh, I love that! I've been buying what looks like the same or very similar shape at Aldi's (Priano brand, imported from Italy) for several years. Gave a bag of it to my very Italian almost-SIL. Guess I didn't think about it having a name, but I can see the 'fins' that radiate outward, suggesting the name Radiatore.

Ok, now you made me drag out the step stool and get mine out of the cupboard.
It says the name for this Priano shape is Armoniche. Google Translate says that means 'harmonics'; as the oscillating pattern of sound waves.

Detour, but now back to your question:
My favorite pasta shape for eating is angel hair pasta.
I find regular spaghetti too dense. Same reason I like some flat noodles but not tubular ones.

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Not exactly.  They are modeled after radiators.

They are modeled after an old industrial heating fixture, which contains a straight pipe with concentric, parallel fins. Their design maximizes the surface area, for heat exchange, as well as for absorbing flavor and trapping sauce.

[AuntG]

In summer I make a lot of cold pasta salads and like using medium shells.

[aroc3435]

@alliswell   This is an interesting, fun topic.  Thanks for initiating this conversation.

I like cavatappi, bucatini, angel hair, shells, orzo, ditalini, linguine, fettucini, spinach pasta, the tri-color types of pasta, and, of course, elbows.

It is wonderful the variety that is so readily available these days.

When I was growing up in the '50s and early '60s I think we would see elbows, spaghetti, pastina, egg noodles, and canned and frozen ravioli.  

As a kid I loved Beefaroni.  I still crave it sometimes and pick up a couple of cans.  I so like the pasta they use in it-- they have the shape of short tubes that have not been hollowed out.  Don't know the name of this variety, wish I did.    

More variety started to occur in the mid to late sixties when there was an explosion of interest in food, nutrition, ingredients, spices, and the cusines of different ethnic groups and nations.

[momtochloe]

Oh goodness I don't think there is a pasta I would pass up but I kind of like smaller ones so I prefer the smallest version of shells but also something called salad pasta at a local grocery store.  They are just straight cut tube pasta about a 1/4 inch long which is enough to hold pasta sauce/salad dressing.  Works great with everything.

[AuntMame]

I have a disabled family member who has a hard time with spaghetti. Radiatore is the pasta shape that has proved to be the best for him to manuever. The shape also makes it good at soaking up tomato sauce. So it's the shape we've come to use at family spaghetti night. 

It's also come to be more favorite to use in pasta salads. 

[grandma petes]

I use this pasta shape a lot. The brand I buy calls them Ruffles. I love pasta of any kind so I keep a variety in my pantry. 

[alliswell]

My grocery store has maybe 5 or 6 different shapes.  According to what I've read, there are over 350 different shapes!