Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Pasta Shapes

Fat Guy

By Fat Guy
in Cooking

 Share

Recommended Posts

heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Mine is farfalle. I have no idea why but I just don't like it.

 

Ditto 

Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Eatmywords said:

 

image.png.25b3c62956e180c5001103bfc589d9f6.png

 

(mines ziti, not to be confused w penne)

 

I despise no pasta. Orzo is weird, but not despicable. And certainly not weird enough to keep it from making its way to my mouth.

  • Like 3

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted (edited)

I grew up eating kasha varnishkes, usually at a relative's house, so I have a bit of sentimental attachment to farfalle.

 

 

KV.jpg

Edited by Alex (log)
  • Like 3

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I'm not a fan of really al dente pasta, so I don't care for any of the shapes that are a lot thicker in the center.  Bowties, tortellini, rotini, fusilli.  I just never seem to be able to get them cooked right - soft and slippy, but not gooey.  

This is pretty much brand dependent, in my opinion.  The better made pasta will allow you to cook them so the middle is properly cooked without the rest of the pasta turning to mush.

And tortellini really shouldn't be sold as a "shape;" it's a stuffed pasta. 

 

 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Alex said:

I grew up eating kasha varnishkes, usually at a relative's house, so I have a bit of sentimental attachment to farfalle.

 

 

KV.jpg

 

Oh, those wonderful dinners trying to swallow kasha varnishkes, along with the roast chicken that had been put through the deflavorizer. 

  • Haha 3

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Oh, those wonderful dinners trying to swallow kasha varnishkes, along with the roast chicken that had been put through the deflavorizer. 

 

I guess my family had better cooks than yours.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Oh, those wonderful dinners trying to swallow kasha.....

 

Ooof, kasha, it's been a long time and one of the very few things I never need to taste again.  Imagine oat meal cooked in windex w a sprinkle of strong body odor.  No thx. 🤮

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2

That wasn't chicken

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, weinoo said:

There are good Ashkenazic cooks?

😂

 

I heard they're good at making only one thing.....

 

Reservations 

 

(I know I know, that one is as old as the horrible taste of kasha)

  • Like 1

That wasn't chicken

blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted

I don't care for pasta in that awkward size range that's too small to be stuffed but too big to eat in one bite.  Rigatoni, shells and some other shapes can fall into this category.  I ordered some rather expensive lumaconi for a recipe where they were to be stuffed.  They turned out to be too small for that but still annoyingly large for a single bite.  It might do me good to smash them up to cook like orzo 🙃

  • Like 1
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted (edited)
34 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

 

I heard they're good at making only one thing.....

 

Reservations 

 

(I know I know, that one is as old as the horrible taste of kasha)

 

I actually like orzo, and use it in my reverse engineered rice-a-roni when I don't feel like making a mess and breaking up vermicelli.

 

RE: Kasha. So pre-pandemic, I often shopped at the Russian supermarkets (e.g. Net Cost, et al.) out in Brighton Beach/Sheepshead Bay.  Aisles of buckwheat groats/buckwheat/kasha in those places.

And I brought a bunch of different homes to see if I might've misremembered as to how, ummmm, awful the stuff is.

 

I hadn't.

 

It might be a decent vehicle for about a quart of gravy, however.

 

Edited by weinoo (log)
  • Haha 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted

Per the farfale/bowtie bashing,  I tend to agree.  And I don't think it's a matter of qlty but the shape and cut.  The ridges on the bow, the compacted knot, the non symmetrical angles, all make for an unenjoyable mouth feel. 

That wasn't chicken

Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

I actually like orzo, and use it in my reverse engineered rice-a-roni when I don't feel like making a mess and breaking up vermicelli.

 

Husband often/occasionally asks what he ca do to help.    I look innocent and ask him to break up spaghetti for "roni".    

  • Haha 2

eGullet member #80.

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

Per the farfale/bowtie bashing,  I tend to agree.  And I don't think it's a matter of qlty but the shape and cut.  The ridges on the bow, the compacted knot, the non symmetrical angles, all make for an unenjoyable mouth feel. 

 

Yeah that's why it's (farfale) perfect for kasha varnishkes!

 

But if fusilli is something that someone might find enjoyable, then I definitely recommend the higher-quality brands. Because they can be cooked until the center is done, without the outside falling apart.

  • Thanks 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

But if fusilli is something that someone might find enjoyable, then I definitely recommend the higher-quality brands. Because they can be cooked until the center is done, without the outside falling apart.

 

I haven't found any issues w (slightly) better generic brands like Barilla or De Cecco.   (Not all us serfs have the means and access to the freshly picked good stuff off the semolina trees in Naples)

That wasn't chicken

Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted (edited)

This has become my 'go to" fusilli, close to a favorite pasta, period.    It's Walmart's house brand pasta, imported from Italy.   It has the rough surface of expensive pasta while being absurdly inexpensive, like around $1.70/500gr.995141823_ScreenShot2020-10-30at8_16_30AM.png.f80b7fe0cc5d94324935723bef4e7ff7.pngThis This particular shape is a spiral so has no central core.  

 

I also like this brand's pappardelle and spaghetti, again firm and rough surfaced.     All of the "Italia" brand seems to be in short or non-supply during pandemic.   I hope this is temporary.

Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

eGullet member #80.

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

This has become my 'go to" fusilli, close to a favorite pasta, period.    It's Walmart's house brand pasta, imported from Italy.   It has the rough surface of expensive pasta while being absurdly inexpensive, like around $1.70/500gr.995141823_ScreenShot2020-10-30at8_16_30AM.png.f80b7fe0cc5d94324935723bef4e7ff7.pngThis This particular shape is a spiral so has no central core.  

 

I also like this brand's pappardelle and spaghetti, again firm and rough surfaced.     All of the "Italia" brand seems to be in short or non-supply during pandemic.   I hope this is temporary.

 

Walmart!!??  Oh the horror!  Don't look Weinoo! 

 

 

 

  • Like 1

That wasn't chicken

Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted

Linguine is my go-to but at the moment I'm in love with mafaldine. It's difficult to get guanciale here in Nottingham so I use bacon for carbonara and the shape of the pasta recalls the shape of the bacon.  I can't find radiatore very easily here but I do love this, too. I can't wait to go back to Italy on holiday when the Covid settles down.

  • Like 1
Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Eatmywords said:

 

 (Not all us serfs have the means and access to the freshly picked good stuff off the semolina trees in Naples)

Sounds like Walmart might be the answer to your maiden prayers.

eGullet member #80.

Eatmywords

Eatmywords

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Sounds like Walmart might be the answer to your maiden prayers.

 

I sure I'd be just fine with it.  Now, San Giorgio and Ronzoni? That's were I draw the line! 

That wasn't chicken

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

I have tried on and off to like what I refer to as “fat pastas”. I define these as any pasta that is larger than a grain of rice or shorter than a 6 inch ruler. Leaves out just about everything except orzo and the generic group of “spaghettis”. 

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

 

I sure I'd be just fine with it.  Now, San Giorgio and Ronzoni? That's were I draw the line! 

Hey, I use Ronzoni (or Barilla)...for macaroni salad, old school deli style. Especially when they're on sale at $1 a piece.

I probably draw the line at Walmart brand - since I've never been in one, and don't ever expect to be.

I just got some of this stuff  - at Gustiamo today! Where it's cheaper than they sell if at Walmart for.

 

image.png.6af3b4e02cfe2b4f42504ed525b78d71.png

 

(It's classy Tuscan, not Neapolitan!).

  • Like 3

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

MokaPot

MokaPot

Posted
Posted

I like the 365 (Whole Foods) brand pasta, specifically, fusilli. I like both the organic and the non-organic 365 pasta. Nice texture (has a chew) and not too thick. I cook it past al dente, probably. The package says it's a product of Italy, so there's that. Also, it's inexpensive.

 

IMG_0774.thumb.jpeg.abb1f2d43e5a54fc886e93058609bdcf.jpeg

 

I do order penne (alla vodka) pasta at restaurants, but don't buy it for home use. Penne is too large / thick, in general, IMO. I also like pappardelle.

 

  • Like 1
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...