Pasta Shapes Chart

Source: CNN.Com

PASTA SHAPES & SIZES
Long, straight pasta noodles
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Capellini (Angel hair)	Long, rounded, very thin	Hot	With light sauces, or tossed with olive oil and fresh steamed vegetables
Vermicelli	Long, rounded, thinner than spaghetti	Hot, can be used cold	With light sauces, or tossed in pasta salads
Linguine	Long, flat, narrow	Hot	Large enough to hold slightly thicker sauces, for example a marinara sauce
Spaghetti	Long, rounded, average thickness	Hot	With tomato-based sauces or baked in casseroles
Fettuccine	Long, flat, wider than linguine	Hot	Thick sauces, especially creamy sauces
Lasagna	Long, very wide, may be flat-edged or have curled edges	Hot	Baked, in lasagna and other casserole-type dishes
Curly pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Rotini (Spirals)	Fairly short spirals	Hot or cold	With thick/chunky sauces or in pasta salads
Fusilli	Long, corkscrew-shaped spaghetti	Hot or cold	Very versatile, good with most sauces, in soup or in pasta salad,
Tagliatelle (Egg noodles)	Same width as fettuccine or linguine, but not flattened	Hot	Baked dishes, soups, stroganoff
Tubular pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Ditalini	Small, very short tubes	Hot or cold	Soups or pasta salads
Elbow macaroni	Curved tubes	Hot or cold	Baked dishes, or in pasta salad
Perciatelli (Long macaroni)	Long, thin, straight tubes	Hot	Use in place of spaghetti
Ziti	Slightly curved tubes, wider and longer than elbow macaroni	Hot or cold	Baked, in pasta salads, with thick sauces
Penne	Straight, medium-length tubes, often ridged instead of smooth, cut on diagonal	Hot	In soups, baked, with a wide variety of sauces
Rigatoni	Straight, short tubes, wider than penne, also ridged	Hot	Variety of sauces; ridges hold thick or creamy sauces well
Cannelloni	Large, long tubes	Hot	Stuffed
Manicotti	Longer and wider than penne, may be ridged	Hot	Stuffed
Other shapes
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Alphabets	Letters of the alphabet	Hot	In soups
Anelli (rings)	Small, O-shaped	Hot	In soups
Bow Tie Pasta	Squares pinched in the middle to form bow-ties	Hot	In soups and with grains, like buckwheat, in side dishes
Conchiglie (Shells)	Shells with one long, narrow opening	Hot or cold	In soups, baked, in pasta salads
Conchiglioni (Jumbo shells)	Like regular shells, but much larger	Hot	Stuffed
Orzo	Size and shape of grains or cooked rice	Hot	As side dish
Radiatore (Radiators)	Ruffled and ridged, like a radiator	Hot; can be used cold	With thick or creamy sauces, in soups, in salad
Ruote (Wheels)	Wagon wheels	Hot	In soups, casseroles, with thick sauces
Filled pastas
TYPE:	SHAPE:	BEST USED:	SERVED:
Agnolotti	Small, crescent-shaped, may be filled with a variety of meats or cheeses	Hot	With variety of sauces
Gnocchi	Dumplings, may have cheese, potatoes or spinach in dough	Hot	As side dish
Tortellini	Small, filled, ring-shaped pasta	Hot	Good with a variety of thick or creamy sauces
Ravioli	Usually round, with cheese or beef filling	Hot	Baked or boiled, with thick sauces