Pasta 101
So, you’ve been serving ragú with spaghetti? Philistine! There is a reason there are over 350 di fferent varieties of pasta, so stop getting it wrong.
LONG PASTA
Spaghetti works best with oil or tomato-based sauces (i.e. not too chunky), think carbonara, puttanesca and arrabiata.
Fresh tagliatelle is usually the pasta of choice for meat ragús. Linguine is interchangeable with spaghetti. You decide.
Thinner tagliolini is used for smooth, thin sauces.
Fettucine also works well with meatier sauces due to its larger surface area.
TUBULAR PASTA
Penne, rigatoni and macaroni – best served with chunky meat and veg sauces that will be caught in the tubes. These shapes can also stand up to baking – as in macaroni cheese.
SHAPES
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 work well with light sauces of veg or fish; fusilli are served with meat, cheese or spicy, oily sauces; and orecchiette are often served with a broccoli, anchovy and cheese sauce.
I would like to where I can buy Bonito Fishflakes for a a Japanese dish that I make, called Okonomiyki.?
I am sure I saw somewhere that some Woolworths stores were going to stock it.
Sheila