Cutting shapes

Been there, eaten that? Step away from the pappardelle and try this pasta for size.

PACCHERI

Neapolitan for “slap” (as in slap you in the face while you eat it), these tubes are wider than rigatoni and d fatter than cannelloni. Find nd them tossedto with prawn n and Napoli sauce at Osteria ria Ilaria in Melbourne, or stu stuffed with octopus at Wyno in Sydney.Sydney

MALLOREDDUS

Thinknk of tiny gnocchi. Gnochetti,Gnoche even – which is what they’reth called in Sardinia. nia. LocalsLoca serve them with rich sauces and pecorino. Acme in Sydney does a spelt version with king brown mushrooms, walnuts and rosemary. Both are winners.

MAFALDE

These ribbons with one or both edges curled are great for holding on to sauce, such as the braised rabbit and pecorino at Tartufo in Brisbane. Pino’s Vino e Cucina in Sydney, meanwhile, tosses them through a wild boar ragù.

LORIGHITTAS

Chef Giovanni Pilu knows his lorighittas. And he would – the twisted rings of pasta come from Sardinia, his home island, where they’re called Morgongiori. Pilu suggests eating them Carloforte style with yellowfin tuna, tomato and pesto. Si, signore.

CASARECCE

Twisted and rolled, with a name that means homemade, casarecce hold whatever they’re paired with – suckling lamb ragù at Italian & Sons in Canberra, say, or cow’s milk squacquerone cheese and leeks at Adelaide’s Osteria Oggi.