5 different pasta types you need to cook with

Its the best time to cook hearty family meals and experiment with pasta types and recipes. We all know the basic penne, and spaghetti, fusilli and farfalle. But there are some pretty intriguing pasta types easily available on grocery stores and Amazon. There are so many interesting types and the recipes that come with and amazing. So, here is a list of 5 pasta types you need to cook with!

Bucatini

To be honest, Bucatini was a pasta type, I had never ever heard of. Bucatini is a spaghetti style pasta but with a hole running down the centre. The texture works beautifully with both chunky and light sauces. You can whip bucatini with Carbonara, or Chunky tomatoes and mushrooms. Cooking time is mostly 6-8 minutes.

• 

• 

• 

Rigatoni

The tubular pasta is really, really fun to cook with. Tube shaped, and not quite curved – I absolutely loved making a baked pasta topped with a lot of cheese. This is probably the only type of pasta that you can cook vertically as well. Best paired with chunky and flavoursome sauces! Try Rigatoni with flambeed vodka or Baked Rigatoni. Average cooking time is 10-12 minutes.

• 

• 

Capellini/ Angel Hair Pasta

Capellini, literally means fine hair and often goes as angel-hair pasta. It is really, really fine and cooks in less than 3 minutes. Best with salads and light pastas. Toss it with some lemon juice and zucchini. Or aglio e olio. Try – Capellini with lemon and courgette.

• 

Maccheroni

Maccheroni is another type of macaroni. Unlike macaroni whose one true love is cheese, Maccheroni is like short, cut up bucatoni or smaller versions of rigatoni. You can pair it with both flavoursome and light sauces. Cooks up in 7 minutes and i whipped up mine with some balsamic and fresh vegetables – check out here.

• 

Shell/ Tofe Pasta

Shells come in all sizes, the bigger ones are great to be used for stuffing and the smaller ones for chunky sauces and baking. The versatile pasta type is pretty great! Baked with cheesy sauces of go for something unconventional like I did. Average cooking time is 6 minutes. I made a cauliflower alfredo shell pasta baked with a cheesy gratin on top. Check the recipe here.

• 

Check out the Past and Sauce pairing guide here.