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Pasta shapes: An important and official ranking

It’s time to take pasta seriously.

PASTA IS THE ruler of all carbs. It boldly stands beside all sauces, assumes all shapes, and satisfies every desire.

Here is DailyEdge.ie‘s ranking of 11 popular pasta shapes, judging by sauce hold-ability, messiness, general beauty, and degree of difficulty in eating the pasta.

11. Rotelle

My Rotelle Pasta with Pesto Sauce and grated Parmigianno Reggiano Cheese on top. #picstitch #rotellepasta #pesto #homemade #micasacomida #mykitchenisnowopen #yummyinmytummy #welcometomykitchen #igfood #igpics #igdaily #igphoto #igaddict #instafood #instagood #instapics #instadaily #instaphoto #instaaddict #food #foodgasm #foodporn #foodimade #foodicooked #foodography #foodstagram #foodstamping #foodphotography #picstitch Instagram / tabachingching28 Instagram / tabachingching28 / tabachingching28

The wheel pasta is for children. End of story.

10. Pappardelle

#pappardelle #pasta #lobster #capers megalberts megalberts

This thick ribbon pasta should be good in theory, but there’s something slightly unwieldy about it - should we try to cut it up? Let it dangle into our mouths like a saucy snake? Too many questions. Next.

9. Farfalle

4749041468_19e8e7d987_b Flickr / avlxyz Flickr / avlxyz / avlxyz

The fancy shape is fun, sure, but we feel in this case, it’s a bit style over substance. Is this really the best you can offer your pasta sauce? No.

8. Conchiglie

Conchiglie pasta with lean turkey in a tomato & mask-a-pony (mascarpone) sauce Instagram / dwordley Instagram / dwordley / dwordley

These SHOULD be ideal – what could be better than a pasta that serves as a little tiny bowl for sauce? But in practice, that’s not the case.

They’re small, difficult to spear on a fork, and just love rolling EVERYWHERE. Wear a bib, or don’t try it.

7. Macaroni

Dinner for 1; #macncheese #pakmac #caneat #macaddict #cheeseaddict #macaroni #melbournefood #NYCfood #NYC #getinmybelly #ifihaveto #yummy @thecheesious @whereismymacandcheese Instagram / pakmacncheese Instagram / pakmacncheese / pakmacncheese

Often overlooked here in Ireland, macaroni is best known for its role in the famous macaroni’n'cheese combo.

And while it serves cheese extremely well, it performs admirably in pasta bakes and salads.

6. Linguine

5825039699_d649246104_b Flickr / stuartwebster Flickr / stuartwebster / stuartwebster

As spaghetti’s flatter, thicker cousin, linguine often doesn’t get a look in. But it’s a solid choice for seafood pasta dishes and surprisingly easy to handle, fork-wise.

5. Spaghetti

Spaghetti is an excellent pasta, and a great sauce and meat delivery system.

4917698704_605850a963_b Flickr / jeffreyww Flickr / jeffreyww / jeffreyww

However, the debate on how to efficiently eat it rages on (DailyEdge.ie Towers contains both fork-twirlers and spaghetti cutters) and splatter factor is very high.

We can definitely live with that, though.

4. Tagliatelle

Tagliatelle Carbonara @ Cafe Citta, Cardiff, Wales, UK #foodlover #foodporn #foodgasm #foodie #food #foodblog #instafood #tagliatelle #carbonara #pasta #tagliatellecarbonara #italian #italianfood #delicious #bacon #pancetta #cafecitta #cardiff Instagram / rlfoodadventures Instagram / rlfoodadventures / rlfoodadventures

But the best of all the thin pastas is tagliatelle - it’s the perfect size to twirl around a fork and the ONLY acceptable accompaniment to carbonara sauce. Mmm.

3. Rigatoni

Otherwise known as Fat Penne. Look how wonderfully they fill up with sauce:

11776250123_447d5f6911_k Flickr / nebulux Flickr / nebulux / nebulux

Like spaghetti, however, the splat factor is high. Drop one of these babies and it’s bye bye, white shirt, but that’s the price you pay for pasta glory.

2. Fusilli

Ah, this curly wonder.

Finding ways to be happy Instagram / mellokman Instagram / mellokman / mellokman

The danger of a mess is low, it’s easy to shove into your gob, and those coils catch sauce and melted cheese in a most pleasing manner. What’s not to love?

1. Penne

7776637204_07bf94a89b_k (1) Flickr / mfoetsch Flickr / mfoetsch / mfoetsch

There’s something about penne. It’s simple, but it does its job so well, and catches sauce so beautifully, that it’s easy to name it the King of All Pasta. Keep on being you, penne.

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Author
Valerie Loftus
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