Different shapes for all pasta sauces

Seashells, twists, bow-ties, grapes, frills, little ears, ribbons, tubes - these appealing pasta pieces are taking over my pantry. I have become hooked on buying every new pasta shape and colour that comes into the deli. I would love to display them in jars on an open kitchen shelf. But for that, I would need to redesign my kitchen.

The shapes are for a reason. It takes less sauce to cover pasta parcels than it does to cover the same amount of pasta rolled out and cut into strips. Ribbed or shaped pastas hold more sauce than smooth ones and chunky sauces need the ribbed pasta to trap the sauce as it travels from plate to mouth. Tubes are best served with smoother sauces.

It takes considerable understanding - something that comes naturally to the Italians - to marry pasta with the correct amount of sauce.

Commercial dried pasta is generally made from hard durum wheat flour which gives it a firmer texture - it won't go soft if slightly overcooked - although if seriously overcooked, it will become flabby. Pasta should be cooked 'al dente' - still a little firm when you bite it.

A selection of pasta in my collection include:

Conchiglie (pronounced con-keel-yay) resemble conch shells. They can be served with meat or tomato sauces, or used in salads. Smaller shells are great in soups and the very large shells can be stuffed and baked in a tomato, or creamy, sauce.

Farfalle (far-fall-lay) are like little bow-ties or butterflies and are excellent in hearty sauces or salads.

Fusilli (foo-zee-lee) are corkscrew-shaped. There are various sizes, all with different names, but all are best suited to serving with medium sauces.

Grappolo d'Uva (grapola-doo-va) - colourful bunches of grape-shaped pasta for salads or light sauces.

Orecchiette (oh-reck-ee-et-tav) resemble little ears and are wonderful in pasta bakes with creamy sauces, and salads.

Pappardelle (papa-dell-lay) - large, broad fettuccine, a fashionable accompaniment for game stews.

Stelline (steh-lee-neh) minute star-shaped pasta, great for soups and salads.