Picking The Right Pasta For Every Sauce | Epicurious

Pro chef Adrienne Cheatham returns to Epicurious to break down which pasta best complements the sauce of any recipe. From the tiny dimpled surface of orecchiette and rice-like orzo to long layered sheets of lasagna, learn when, why, and how to pick the right pasta your next time in the kitchen.

Follow Chef Adrienne on Instagram at @chefadriennecheatham

Director: Cory Cavin
Director of Photography: Jeremy Harris
Editor: Boris Khaykin
Host and Expert: Adrienne Cheatham

Director of Culinary Production: Kelly Janke
Coordinating Producer: Tommy Werner

Culinary Producer: Kat Boytsova
Line Producer: Jen McGinity
Associate Producer: Michael Cascio
Production Manager: Janine Dispensa
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes

Camera Operator: Jake Robbins
Audio: Rachel Suffian
Production Assistant: Nikki Ligos

Hair & Make Up: Nicole Vidro
Culinary Assistant: Asnia Akhtar, Malin Hillemann
Research Director: Ryan Harrington
Copy and Recipe Editor: Vivian Jao, Liz Tarpy

Post Production Supervisor: Stephanie Cardone
Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds

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0:00 Pasta Categories
0:47 Spaghetti
1:33 Fettuccine
2:19 Angel Hair
2:54 A Note On Cooking Pasta
3:19 Lasagna
4:09 Bucatini
5:02 Mafaldine
5:56 Tagliatelle
7:10 Pappardelle
7:46 Acini di Pepe
8:53 Orzo
9:48 Gomiti
10:37 Gnocchi
12:07 Ravioli
13:20 Fusilli
14:05 Farfalle
15:04 Cavatappi
16:05 Orecchiette
16:57 Paccheri
17:54 Penne
18:31 Rigatoni
19:18 Shells
20:11 It’s Pasta Time



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[trinitybreyer]

These videos are one of the only things that brings me joy anymore.

[moonlightboiii]

Love that there’s no obnoxious music! Definitely learned a lot. ❤

[lisam]

Not as much variety as pasta, but I’d love to see a video like this about different rices!

[Dahalx]

Italian Wedding Soup isn't served at weddings. It is a metaphorical name because it had so many disparate parts coming together like a wedding.

[ptrinch]

The origins of spaghetti and meatballs is a regional dish in Abruzzo called "chitarra con le pallottine". Granted the meatballs have grown substantially from the original marble size, but that is the inspiration of the modern American variety.

[j.a.mallard]

Can we get the recipes from this episode please? I absolutely love pasta and a lot of the lighter sauces would be great to try.

[MarcEricLaneGlobal]

Gomiti are often used for Pasta e Fagioli (what you call Pasta Fazool here) - pasta in bean soup. The beans tend to hide inside the pasta that's why it's used for that

[CalvinLimuel]

1:30 yes it does. Spaghetti (alla chittara) con polpettine/pallottine di carne is an actual thing from Abruzzo and Campania. But because things need to be bigger in America, the Italian-Americans started putting polpette in the dish instead.
6:50 I like using dried fettucine (di semola) for Carbonara because I can't find spaghettoni where I live, but it's probably better because of the shape. But Carbonara is an egg-based sauce, having fresh egg pasta like tagliatelle would be too heavy and, well, eggy, except if you have eggless tagliatelle, but then it would be too mushy in contrast with the guanciale.

[Topshottayut]

One of my favorite Epicurious hosts. Loved how she danced when she tasted the fruits on the citrus episode!

[NutScratcher]

I find it very interesting how different noodle shapes can change the entire course of a pasta dish and I love it

[tasteofcrazy]

Things I'd like to know more about:

- The great exchange of "New" and "Old" world foods during colonization
- Types of cake bread (I think the brits call them sponges?)
- Things people cook for Christmas and/or other winter holidays
- Food preservation techniques

[matchan]

I love this video! It covers the many mysteries of pasta combinations and also goes into the purpose of pasta types. Would love to see a video about the types of pasta sauces next time!

[matteochiarini]

Adrienne: "Spaghetti and meatballs is not a real italian recipe"
Also Adrienne: *proceeds to make fettuccine alfredo immediately after*

[davidwilson]

I love how all of the dishes are fairly traditional and then for the cavatappi they went with crushed hot Cheetos.

[MarcEricLaneGlobal]

Also - be sure to pronounce both Ns in Penne because the way you're saying it (with one N) means uh... Male Genitalia. I started laughing uncontrollably when you said this Pene has ridges 😂

[lindseychanel]

Love this!! I want more of this kind of videos!!!

[reemo]

Beautiful! Beautiful PASTA BELLA! Keep up the great work. Make more videos please. pasta, rice, salads, meats, chicken veggies, Steaming, Grilling, Baking, BBQ-ing, souping... so so many ideas to choose from. ENJOY!

[douglasmijangos]

Watching this girl enjoy food makes me so happy 😂.. love her

[BabyMakR]

One of the things I used to love to make for myself was to cook some fettuccini, then when still piping hot, put it onto a warm frypan, not on the heat, just warm, cover in freshly grated parmesan, cracked pepper, dried chilly flakes, and an egg. Toss it around so that the heat of the pasta cooks the egg, drizzel with a good extra virgin olive oil and then serve with some more grated parmesan on the top.

[complicatedmike]

Love my new pasta knowledge and Adrienne is a fantastic presenter!