You might think that any shape of pasta suits any pasta sauce, (never say this to an Italian!) but each pasta shape is designed to perfectly match a different kind of sauce – and it makes all the difference.
Here are a few essential facts to know to do justice to your pasta dish:
1. First of all, look at the thickness of the pasta: the thicker it is, the richer and more elaborate the sauce should be. Maintaining the right ratio is important to get the perfect balance of flavours so that the pasta or sauce don’t overpower.
2. Smooth or rigged? Ridged pasta, like Penne rigate, can work with a wider variety of sauces than unridged pasta. This is because even the thinnest of sauces will not easily slide away. If you are cooking smooth pasta, make sure the sauce is creamy or thick enough.
3. Long tube pasta, like Bucatini, are similar to spaghetti but with an extra feature: their hollow centre gets filled by the sauce and their texture ensures a rich taste in every bite. To use these pastas to the top of their potential, pair them with a sauce that’s liquid enough to fill the inside and with a flavour that’s strong enough to match the thickness.
4. Short and flat pasta, like Farfalle, is the perfect platform for rich, creamy sauces, like four cheese (4 formaggi) ricotta or gorgonzola and cream. Twisted pasta, like Fusilli, is perfectly designed for sauces enriched by small pieces (like bolognese, or pulses as well as small vegetables) that capture just the right amount of sauce with each bite.
5. Small pasta shapes, in Italian ‘pastina’, are normally served with broth or other liquid sauces and soups so they can be eaten with a spoon.
A few extra tips to make you a ‘real’ pasta guru:
Do not rinse the pasta after cooking, this will wash away all the starch letting the sauce slide instead of sticking to the pasta.
For the same reason, do not add oil to the water. Stirring frequently should be enough not to let the pasta stick together. The olive oil would coat the pasta making it hard for the sauce to be absorbed.
Salt goes in the water before the pasta so the pasta will absorb the flavour throughout the cooking time.
Drain the pasta one minute before it’s ready and finish the cooking in the pan with the sauce. This will help the pasta absorb the flavours.
Add a spoonful or two of cooking water to the sauce. The starch released by the pasta in the water will help make the sauce extra creamy.
Now you are ready to impress guests with the perfect pasta dish – it’s so easy. If you want to practise? Check out this traditional Italian Penne all’arrabiata! recipe.
Sabine Hobbel, an athlete and health researcher and her husband Nico Olivieri, an Italian chef share a love of food, fitness and nutrition are our Guest Bloggers this week in the lead up to World Pasta Day. The pair, mum and dad to one-year-old Aidan, run natural food company Leaves – pasta made from chickpeas and buckwheat.
