The great big pasta guide

Hack: One-pan pasta

Make your pasta in a pan instead of a pot. Oil a pan, place over a medium heat, add pasta, then add cold water (just enough to cover all the pasta). Cook for 10 –12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once cooked, use the remaining water as the base of your favourite sauce. One of the quickest meals just got quicker.

Did you know there are 350 different varieties of pasta? And do you know which pasta you should use for what?

Spaghetti works best with oil or blended tomato-based sauces, think carbonara, puttanesca and arrabiata.

Tagliatelle is traditionally used for meat ragùs. Linguine and spaghetti can be used interchangeably. Thinner tagliolini is used for smooth, thin sauces. Fettucine, like tagliatelle, also works well with meatier sauces (like ragùs) because of its larger surface area.

Penne, rigatoni and macaroni are best served with chunky meat, thick veg or cheese sauces that get caught in the hollows of the tubes. These also do well when baked – as in macaroni cheese.

Conchiglie (shells), farfalle (butterflies), fusilli (springs) and orecchiette (little ears) all work with specific sauces. Conchiglie are designed to be stuffed, sauced and baked; farfalle works well with light sauces of veg or fish; fusilli is best served with meat, cheese or spicy, oily sauces; and orecchiette are often served with a broccoli, anchovy and cheese sauce.

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Want to try making pasta from scratch? We have the perfect how-to, right here. Learn to make the perfect pomodoro sauce,or toss your freshly made pasta though this roasted tomato sauce with ricotta and pine nuts – delizioso!

Discover more Italian-inspired recipes here.