Use Your Noodle to Perk-Up Weeknight Pasta
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 12:00PM 
We all have that go-to pasta dinner. Whether it’s spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti or just a plate of linguini tossed with butter and cheese, pasta is a quick and happily habitual meal. But it can get boring.
Want to add some intrigue to your mindless mid-week pasta without really having to try something new? Use your noodle! Pasta comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, more and more of which you can find on the shelves of your average grocery store.
Swap Guide: Replace common cuts with these distinctive shapes and you can perk up your pasta routine in no time.
Spaghetti: Try Bucatini or Perciatelli
These long, hollow tubes are thicker than spaghetti and add a satisfying heft and delicious chew to good old spaghetti and meatballs. They are excellent with any hearty (particularly meat) sauce.
Linguini: Try Tagliatelle or Mafalde
Tagliatelle are long, flat (often egg) noodles, that are slightly wider than linguini and my preference for a rich mushroom sauce.
When you hear mafalde, think skinny lasagna. The ruffled edges of these long ribbons are beautiful in the bowl and fun to eat.
Macaroni: Try Gemelli or Mini Ziti
Meaning “twins” in Italian, gemelli is made by twisting two short strands of pasta around one another. I love it with creamy sauces, like alfredo, because it captures the smooth sauce in its twists and stays super al dente, which provides textural contrast for the rich, gooey cheese.
I almost always use mini ziti instead of elbow macaroni for mac and cheese because they are longer than traditional macaroni and a longer tube means more sauce in every bite!
Penne: Try Mezze Penne
Shorter than classic penne, this adorably bite-sized pasta is excellent for pasta salad, pesto and casseroles.
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