Pairing Pasta with Sauce

These delicate strands are best paired with light sauces, like tomato or garlic and olive oil, that will coat the strands evenly and won't get weighed down when wound up with a fork. Small, light additions like chopped fresh herbs, diced tomatoes or crumbled crisp pancetta add layers to a dish without overwhelming the simple pairing.

Flat ribbon-like pasta is best paired with rich or creamy sauces, as the surface area of the pasta's flat shape enables it to stand up against the heft of a rich sauce. As a general rule, pair the heartier sauces with the wider noodles: Wide ribbons like pappardelle pair well with rich, meaty sauces while the thinner flat noodles, like fettuccine or linguine, are best paired with simple cream sauces like Alfredo or delicate proteins like seafood.

These long tubes of pasta resemble spaghetti, but with a tube running down the center. They have an extra heft to their bite, making them ideal for louder, brighter flavors like crushed red pepper flakes or tangy pancetta. The thin tube shape lends itself toward more fluid, loose sauces, so that the sauce can run down the center for more flavor in each bite.

Versatility belongs to the short tube pasta, which works in soups, salads, casseroles and pasta dishes with sauces ranging from creamy to hearty. The larger the tube, the more potential for catching creamy sauces studded with bits of meats or vegetables. If the pasta name includes the word "rigate," the pasta shape will include ridges, which make it easier for sauces like pesto to cling to the pasta.