What's your favourite kind of pasta?

I love pasta and I was wondering what you fine people prefer. My fav is spaghetti, preferably with meatballs. What about you guys?

Penne or rigatoni, preferably passed through a bronze die (better texture).

I like a good orecchiette as well, they're like little bowls. Good for your thinner or oil-based dishes.

They hold sauce well, and are generally thicker and release some starch into the water which is good for cooking with.

Not a fan of the long skinny pastas like spaghetti or fettuccini, they don't hold sauce well and then tend to drip.

Honorable non-pasta noodle: ramen. I honestly just love the noodles so much, I could have them in a super basic broth and be totally happy with that. Alkaline noodles, who would have thought...

If ramen and chow mein don't count, then baked ziti, canneloni, spaghetti, lasagna, tortellini, spaghettiOs, mac and cheese

I can't think of single pasta type I don't like; it all depends on how I cook it and what I do with it. I used to hate ravioli, but I later found it was only because English people have no idea how to cook it. I tried this ricotta and spinach ravioli on my visit to Italy and loved it.

That said, the one I order regularly as part of my once-every-three-weeks grocery delivery is the penne. It's satisfying, easy to cook, easy to measure, goes well with a wide variety of sauces and meats. I also told the store to replace them with good old spaghetti if they don't have any, so that would be my second choice.

I like spaghetti with Ragu sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. It’s a classic.

mac & cheese

Gnocchi.

Don't really have a favorite.

I think you're mostly talking about marinara based pasta, in which case I'll give you my second favorite - "Loaded"

Any kind of pasta shape, they're mostly the same, with marinara as a base. Load up the sauce with sausage (NOT ground beef, you need the spices), onions, peppers, and garlic. You can add other veggies if you want, but those are a must.

If you're including more interesting types, my absolute favorite is blackened X pasta. This has a buttery Alfredo sauce as a base, but the magic is in the protein which is COATED with a dark spice mixture. The idea is that these little flavor bombs of spice mingle with the dairy based sauce to mute the spices. It produces a wonderful layered effect in which no bite is the same.

I kind of come around to fettuccine, especially for aglio e olio and Alfredo sauce. For a red sauce though I'd say angel hair or ravioli.

If you're getting away from Italian cuisine, rice noodles with Asian sauce (teriyaki, hoisin, etc) and veggies with chicken or pork is also fantastic.

@Serraph105: A good curry based soup with rice noodles is amazing.

@mattbbpl: you know, I've been meaning to try/make Soto Ayam for the first time for about a month now. It looks amazing.

@Serraph105: Oh no, don't do it! You'll crave it at the most inopportune times, then discover there are a thousand different flavor profiles for it, and it will consume your life.

Some doors are best left closed.

I used to work at an Italian restaurant and occasionally we'd try something new in the kitchen. One time we did a jerk chicken (spicy Jamaican seasoning, amazing!) alfredo and it worked for the exact reason you said.

We had this blackened grilled spicy chicken rubbed with a paste of habanero chilis and other herbs and spices, grilled fast and hot with plenty of good char, then we made our basic alfredo pasta (white sauce and penne) and tossed the chicken in there before plating.

I've seen this done with Buffalo seasoned chicken too which sounds good.

@mrbojangles25: I love jerking meat (and not just for the double entendre opportunity)! In addition to the the spices, the citric acid breaks down tough cheap meat into something that tastes and feels higher quality, and the fruity aspect gives it a subtle undertone. My son thinks jerked pork chops are the best thing I make.

I've never had it in pasta, though. I'll have to try that!

tortellini or ravioli are usual gotos. ate a lot of rigatoni growing up as well which i always liked it. don't like the smoother ziti though.

@mattbbpl: well now I have to try it.

Probably lasagna. Macaroni n cheese is awesome, too.

^

Was surprised how much I enjoyed vegan lasagna.

Don't give a shit about any of that stuff, but it tasted good. prefer it over meat.

Knorr Side Kicks,creamy parmazon is my first choice.