Short Pasta - Tubes & Shapes

When matching short pasta to sauce,be sure that the size of the pasta complements the size of the sauce ingredients.The chunkier the ingredients in the sauce, the larger the hollow or cup required to capture them. This is an important guideline to follow in order to allow a balanced mouthful of sauce and pasta to be enjoyed when the finished dish is eaten. Pasta tubes and shells come in many different sizes. Large pasta tubes and shells are excellent paired with rich meat sauces, robust vegetable sauces, or used in baked dishes. Medium-sized short pasta tubes, shells, or shapes go well with vegetable sauces and are also good for pasta salads.

1. Orecchiette - "Little Ear" - Medium disk-shaped shells
2. Conchiglie - Shell-shaped pasta, available in different sizes
3. Gnocchetti - "Little Dumpling*" - Ridged shell-shaped pasta
4. Chifferi - Elbow-shaped tubes, available ridged and smooth
5. Penne - "Quills"- Diagonally cut tubes, available smooth or ridged and in different sizes
6. Rigatoni - Large ridged tubed