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03 October 2005
Pasta Shapes. What's your favorite?→[More:]
Mine's ruote di carro. Or maybe campanelle.
That recipe is so good and simple I'm going to share it.
1 lb pasta squares (broken lasagne noodles will do, if you must)
1 med head cabbage, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons oil
Sugar
Salt, Pepper
Rinse and salt the cabbage, set aside for half an hour, then squeeze dry. Cook and drain the pasta.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan and caramelize a teaspoon (or two) of sugar in it. You want nice and brown", not "charred black lump."
Stir in the cabbage and cook until it's soft and just slightly browned (and coated with sticky caramelized sugar).
Turn off the heat, and stir the pasta in with the cabbage until it is all coated with cabbage mixture and warmed through. Apply pepper generously, and salt to taste.
i do like fusilli but it depends on the dish.
if i feel noodly i tend to go for eastern noodles.
i was not impressed with the tennis rackets but stuff like that is okay if it's just a uniformly textured cheese holder.
i like tubelike ones for the surprise filling
and if i had an egg and a pasta press i'd make some ravioli
My favorite is conchigliette, because it reminds me of being a kid and eating the best macaroni and cheese in the world. I usually use fettuccini noodles because I don't like thin noodles at all (I have an irrational dislike of spagetti).
There's no way to pick one single favorite. It depends too much on what sauce you're using, or more generally what you're using it for. I've been known to spend ten minutes looking over all the different pasta shapes in a grocery store trying to divine just which one would be perfect for whatever dish I was making.
"Now, there are hundreds of shapes of pasta to choose from and the distinctions between the styles can be maddeningly subtle.... But, it basically breaks down into five groups: strings, ribbons, tubes, shapes, and what I call micro pasta. Now, I believe in having a delegate from each group in my pantry at all times." -- Alton Brown
All that having been said, I do find myself using radiatore quite a bit.
I don’t have a single favourite shape, but when it comes to regular dry pasta, I have a definite brand loyalty for De Cecco, and was delighted to discover that I can now order it from them on-line, as I can’t get it otherwise where I live.
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
