Change up the pasta to give new shape to dinner!

Sometimes I feel like I need a degree in Italian to shop the supermarket pasta section. You’ve got your farfalle (bow ties) and your piccolini (mini farfalle). And then there’s the ruote (wagon wheels); conchigliette (small sea shells); spaghettini (thin spaghetti); and pasta all'uovo (egg pasta). I may be confused, but I’m not complaining. Pasta rescues me weekly, and it's all too easy to get into a rut -- same old noodle, same old sauce.

Choosing a different shape of pasta to toss with a favorite sauce will give a new look and feel to dinner with no extra work for the cook. Factor in the flavored or colored pastas and you’ve got even more fun. During a recent stop on the pasta aisle, I counted 12 shapes in tri-color pastas alone.

The general rule for substituting pasta shapes is that the richer the sauce, the thicker the pasta should be. For an Alfredo sauce, choose a thicker noodle such as a fettuccini or long fusilli. (Farfalle works wonderfully and the kids really love the fun bow-tie shape.) What are your favorite pasta shapes to use?