15 Types of Pasta That Will Help You Craft the Perfect Bowl of Comfort

We freakin’ love pasta. What a democratic food — even a timid cook could whip up a bowl of buttered noodles and be in absolute heaven. But if you care to dive a little deeper in, you will be rewarded with extra pasta pleasure.

It has been said before but is important enough to repeat: In Italy, dried (as in, store-bought boxed) pasta is not thought of as a lesser product than fresh; it’s just different and used for different purposes (and in some regions you will find mostly dried served, in homes and in restaurants). But sauces and shapes are not paired willy-nilly, and not all pastas in the grocery store are created equal (more on that later). So, let’s take a closer look at the most comforting carb and understand why all those shapes deserve a place in the pantry.

This might arguably be the king of all pastas in America, almost interchangeable with the term “pasta” itself, and the reason red sauce is sometimes also referred to as spaghetti sauce. Interestingly enough, though Americans love spaghetti with tomato sauce and particularly with meatballs, in Italy spaghetti is less often served with tomato sauce and more with creamy, unctuous sauces like carbonara, and with good reason — these noodles are slippery and aren’t necessarily the best at clinging to a loose sauce like tomato. If you love your pasta with tomato sauce, this might be a place to splurge for excellent, more expensive pasta that was made with a bronze die (read the box), which results in a rougher texture that clings more readily to sauce. Still, there are classic exceptions, like spaghetti puttanesca. Otherwise, look to the other favorite Italian pairings, like aglio e olio, spaghetti with clams, or cacio e pepe, or take it in a non-Italian direction as with peanut noodles or Filipino spaghetti. Or go bonkers.

Strangely, this shape is one of the few that maintains the generic word for pasta carried over from Italy—there, written “maccheroni” but pronounced exactly the same way. There are many tubular shapes found there with a slight curve, formed naturally as it makes a little bend on its way out of the extruding mechanism. The most direct equivalent is gomiti, which translates as, you guessed it, elbow. But other similar shapes include lumache (snails) and chifferi, which look very much like elbows but are often lined (rigate). Stateside, you hardly have a more classic association than with macaroni and cheese, although pasta salad is hot, or more accurately, cold, on its heels. In Italy, you’ll see it in vegetable and bean soups. We also love it in this, this, and this.

This qualifies as a fresh pasta, although now that you’ll sometimes see dried versions of it in the pasta aisle these days, let’s just say the line has blurred. But traditionally it was fresh, which means that to buy it, in most cases, you have to visit the refrigerated section or freezer. This is a good excuse to visit your local Italian market, because what’s available handmade in their freezer case is typically as good as you can get. (Ask where it comes from — 9 times out of 10 it’s from a nonna who’s making them out of her home.)

Tortellini has various names and variations, such as tortelloni (large ones) and cappelletti (bigger than tortellini but smaller than tortelloni). They hail from the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, although they are now made almost everywhere. The most classic and famous preparation is a simple tortellini in brodo, where they float in a gorgeous broth, completely unaccompanied by any other chunks or veggies, where they can be appreciated in their glory. But if you have a bag of them in your freezer, there are so many soups that eat like a meal that you can make, like this one, this, this or this. And here’s a hot tip: They’re great in a salad! See also: this and this. How about on a skewer? And for making a simple weeknight meal so special. Yes please.

This is a beloved shape on both sides of the pond, arguably most famous in penne al’arrabbiata (Italy) and penne alla vodka (USA). It’s named for its quill shape, and though it exists without lines (lisce), come on, we really always think of the lined (rigate) version, for how excellently it holds on to sauces. Try them in a shrimp-forward cream sauce, with butternut squash or with pesto. It makes an eyebrow-raising alternative to baked ziti.

As of this writing, there is still no dried version of this filled pasta, so head to your refrigerated or freezer section to pick them up. (Earlier statement re: freezer case at your Italian grocer stands here too.) The most classic is cheese-filled ravioli, and arguably the best way to eat it is with a simple tomato sauce or with sage and butter. But how delightful that we now live in the age of readily-available lobster ravioli, pumpkin ravioli (here’s a quickie version), and butternut squash ravioli. And in the age of this delightful appetizer! We love it with chicken. It’s so rich and comforting, baked in a creamy sauce. It can transcend in a truly unexpected direction. It works great in a soup. Try something extreme! Yum.

This is definitely one that’s more popular in Italy than here. It is iconic with the Roman amatriciana sauce, but it’s also a great choice for carbonara and in the Sicilian “con le sarde,” with sardines. Now, to those not used to this noodle, a word. People are often initially turned off — it has a tendency to fling sauce around as you twirl it on the fork, so you’ll want to raise a napkin to your clavicle while you eat it. And it can go from undercooked to overcooked more quickly than you’d expect from such a fat noodle—that’s because there’s a hole in the center, so it’s cooking both on the inside and outside of the noodle simultaneously. But once you adapt to those truths, it is everything you love about spaghetti but more — more springy texture in the mouth, more of a robust shape that stands up to thick, lusty sauces. Try it with a light lemon sauce, with a fiery arrabbiata, with olives and capers, with clams and scallops, with mussels, primavera or with pesto and shrimp.

Originally, this was one of the most labor-intensive of the hand-made pastas; it had to be rolled, then cut, then boiled, then dried and laid out individually so they wouldn’t stick together, then layered with fillings, then baked. New innovations have slowly cut steps out of this, first with dried store-bought noodles, and now with no-bake noodles. It has practically transformed lasagna into a practical weeknight option.

Stateside, we think of Italian lasagna as the version with ricotta and mozzarella, whether with meat or without; those are descended from southern Italy, where tomato sauce and cow’s milk cheeses reign supreme. But those are only the tip of the lasagna iceberg. Lasagna bolognese comes from the north, specifically, Bologna, and uses bechamel, not cheese, for its creamy layer. But seafood lasagnas are gorgeous. This can be ideal for a vegetarian, since with all the dairy, it’s quite filling; think mushroom lasagna or pesto lasagna. Think outside the lasagna pan with roll-ups; we love how broken-up lasagna noodles behave in a soup. We also love how it adapts to any flavor profile; witness: cowboy lasagna. Chicken alfredo lasagna combines several comfort dishes in one.

Ohh, how we love pappardelle. It’s the widest of the long noodles, and originates in Tuscany. It can be found fresh, made with egg, but also of dried, made of durum wheat, like spaghetti and linguine. Its extreme size makes for luxurious eating, and indeed, its most iconic pairing is with wild boar ragu (this one’s, made with pork, is similar in spirit). It’s more easy to find in stores than ever (even Target’s house brand now makes it), so let’s enjoy. How about in a spring pasta, or a more summery take on primavera? Paired with a weeknight-ready bolognese? Dial in its high-end vibes with a saffron cream pappardelle, one made with mushrooms, or lobster and corn (heaven!). It elevates any dish from your slow-cooker (this one too). Also, yes!

Similar in vibe (but has been a staple in America for far longer) is fettucine. It’s a fat, wide, long noodle (of course not as fat as pappardelle), and is available both dried and fresh, the latter made with eggs. In the '80s, it had perhaps the height of popularity stateside with fettucine alfredo, though it was just as famous for being caloric as it was for being tasty (hence, many lightened up versions abound). Despite it being famous for tangling with a cream sauce, in Italy it is often served elegantly just with a tomato basil sauce (here’s an amped-up version). Oh-so many variations on alfredo abound, not least of all due to a certain franchise Italian-themed restaurant, such as with shrimp, with chicken, with spring vegetables, with zucchini ribbons, with butternut squash, vegan, pie, soup, and Cajun. But it can be such a treat to do something else luxurious with it, like pair it with crab or salmon or lobster with anchovy breadcrumbs.

This might be the short-pasta champion of Italy. In all the dishes where you think spaghetti, chances are, in Italy, it’s served with rigatoni (for Italian-Americans, it’s THE shape to pair with meatballs). It’s a preferred alternate for dishes like amatriciana and carbonara, and the shape of choice for alla norma, with eggplant and ricotta salata. The classic rigatoni is large and rectangular, with straight lines, and indeed, the name comes from its lines, with “riga” meaning “line” and the “toni” part being an ending that implies largeness.

And it does border on being too large to eat in one bite. With the advent of “mezzi rigatoni” — half rigatoni — you get all the good qualities of rigatoni in a daintier noodle. Rigatoni will also sometimes refer to a more tubelike shape with spiraling lines, whose name is properly tortiglioni. Okay, let’s get into some rigatoni options. Rigatoni works with any sauce that has big chunks, because of the absolute delight when one gets trapped inside of the tube. Think: sausage and fennel. With “summer” bolognese or white bolognese (cue the drooling Homer gif). With cabbage and fontina (!!!). With sausage and Swiss chard. Oh, my, yes, with burrata and roasted cherry tomatoes. Don’t even boil them first, for a super-easy dinner bake. Stand them up on end for a delightful rigatoni pie.

You have a lot of what we’ve already seen — long, short, big tubes, little tubes, variations on a theme — and then you have orecchiette. They are named “little ears” for their shape, and they typically have a craggy texture because until recently they were typically made by hand, pushing them one at time with the thumb against a wooden board, because as we know now, the more rough texture you have, the better to cling to all manner of sauce. Their most iconic dish is the Pugliese one with sausage and broccoli rabe (usually without tomato but it’s also good with), and oh, what a dish it is, with the occasional noodle cradling a hunk of meat or a flower of vegetable; but it cradles lots of things deliciously. Like beans. And bacon. And peas. And summer squash. (And shrimp.) But it can also work in a salad! It’s got such a good chew with pumpkin and pancetta.

“Pastina” simply translates to “little pasta,” and doesn’t describe one shape but a whole class of shapes, from small (stelline/little stars, orzo/barley grains, farfalline/butterflies and acini di pepe/peppercorns) to very very small versions, formulated for infants. Ditalini, tiny tubes, and tiny shells, also count — basically any shape that in most (but not all!) cases you’ll be eating with a spoon. And yes, they are ideal in soups like this. Orzo tosses so well with other smallish ingredients, as in this shrimp and feta dish or leans creamy, like in this lemony bowl.

But perhaps due to its popularity with serving to children, it’s no wonder many adults also nostalgically go back to pastina in its simplest form when they’re under the weather or craving some comfort, where the pasta is an end in itself, cooked simply in some broth and showered with cheese, maybe with an egg mixed in for fortification. (Here’s a complex version with some chicken and kale, inspired by avgolemono, the Greek lemony chicken soup.) One soup has really elevated the status of pastina — have you ever met an Italian wedding soup you didn’t like?

This might be the unsung hero of the pantry. We don’t panic and immediately add it to the shopping list when we run out, as we do with spaghetti, but it works so well with so many dishes. It’s long, like spaghetti, but flat; this makes it a little lighter, and thus very well-suited to seafood dishes, like maybe its most famous linguine with clams. Try it also with tuna, lobster or grilled seafood. It carries other delicate flavors well, like cauliflower, but also robust ones like bacon tomato, short rib, or sausage and mushrooms. Or lean Chinese-inspired.

We’re always excited to see this corkscrew-shaped pasta, from the pretty common “corti” (short) to the more exotic “lunghi bucati” (long with a hole in the middle) which is definitely worth seeking out. Its sauce-clinging properties are epic, with every twist a new opportunity to mingle; but beware: As with bucatini, if you’re cooking a version with a hole in the middle, they can become overcooked seemingly suddenly. But otherwise, fusilli might be the MVP of the pasta world. It works with saucy dishes but also more creamy ones. It works with chunkier sauces and robust ones but also simpler ones. It clings to everything just right. It aces in a salad (this one too) and it is always a nice surprise in soups.