I don’t like tube pasta much either. My wife’s company imports some gorgeous gourmet pasta. One of them is this really thick, long, strip pasta that has is divided into two black and white stripes. We had a Halloween party last weekend and made it with pesto. It was appropriate, beautiful, and good. Other than that, I prefer the spaghetti type pastas for their versatility. I match the thickness to the dish. They should all be cooked al dente.
Rotini or other screwy noodles are great for medium sauces. I love orecchiette too with my vadka sauce or my cream sauce with chicken or seafood. Stellette, Tempestina or other tiny pasta is perfect with cheddar cheese sauce and tuna; a real comfort food. I don’t care for elbow macaroni or most tube pasta. Bow ties and other pinched pasta is right out.
Angel hair without fail, unless the dish calls for a specific shape. The trick is to bring the water to a rolling boil and add salt, then drop the noodles in and quick hit the timer! boil for exactly two minutes. Not a second more or less. Rinse under hot water, no matter what Alton Brown says.
I like rotini. It holds sauces really well. I also like to order farfalle in restaurants because it is so much fun to say “farfalle”.
Never liked the long noodles, like spaghetti or fettucine, very much. I always manage to make a horrible mess with them. Much easier to look classy when you’re picking up a couple of little noodles at a time instead of a rolled forkful of something.
Rigatoni, and if it doesn’t make a ‘crunch’ sound when you chew it, it’s done. Also, the thicker spaghettis, though I love angel hair with various fish dishes. And rotini are generally great for a lot of things. Really, I just love pasta, with anything from butter and parmesan to a nice spicy marinara. In college, my comfort food was: throw in about 3/4ths a pound of rigatoni. Cook for, like, under ten minutes. Slather with butter and parmesan, eateateat.
The single hardest thing in dieting for me is cutting down on pasta (particularly since most of the meats I love are generally OK or even necessary for their protein).
Short:
Casarecci with ragu-type sauces
Farfalle with ham, peas and cream
Long:
Bavette with smoothish sauces
Pappardelle for something with big lumps in a sauce
I have an irrational dislike for penne, although for some reason I don’t mind the other tube-shaped ones like rigatoni and macaroni. I also sorta dislike tagliatelle. Oh, and I’m not a great fan of angel-hair, but that’s just because I always manage to overcook it.
I like spaghetti and shells (conchiglie, is it?) best. Fusilli are okay too.
I love radiatore, but it can be harder to find than others. It really grabs the sauce well. I also love campanelle and oriecchiette. I’m also not a big fan of penne, but I don’t really have a good reason for it – I guess I just like a lot of others better.
