Pasta is just simple and wonderful. They are always a good idea for quick and easy weeknight dinners because they take no more than 30 minutes to cook.

When we go down the pasta aisle in the supermarket, we tend to go with the familiar and grab a pack of spaghetti or penne. Here are my top 5 favourite pasta to use and suggestions on the type of sauces that you should pair them with.

1. Spaghetti

I would think this is the most popular type of pasta all around and there is a reason why spaghetti is so loved by all. I think it is the perfect size where it is not too wide or thin. Spaghetti gives us the satisfaction of forkful of beautiful noodles, twirled and hung onto just the right amount of sauce. The shape of spaghetti is also very similar to a few types of Chinese noodles, such as米線 and 瀨粉, and I think that is why many Hong Kong style restaurants (cha chan tang) like to use spaghetti for fried noodle dishes.

Cook time: 10 – 12 minutes

Ideal sauces: loose tomato sauces, olive oils, light yet flavourful sauces such as white wine clam sauce and different types of pestos.

2. Linguine

Very similar to spaghetti, linguine has a flatter and wider shape which makes it a little sturdier to hold onto thicker and chunkier sauces. I think linguine is a more luxurious version of spaghetti

Cook time: 10 – 12 minutes

Ideal sauces: cream sauce, seafood sauce, tomato meat sauce

3. Pappardelle

This wide ribbons of egg pasta is so scrumptious and I always save them for special occasions or cold winter nights. It pairs really well with autumn and winter flavours such as aromatic herbs, rich cheeses and gamey meats because these noodles are so wide, they are quite filling. Wonderful chunky bits from the sauce get tangled between the flat noodles and each bite it’s very satisfying.

Cook time: 8 – 10 minutes

Ideal sauces: chunky and heavy meat ragu creamy wild mushrooms sauces.

4. Rigatoni

This type of pasta is just like penne, tube-like and with ridges on the outside. The ridges help thicker sauces cling to the pasta. They are a little bigger and are cut square rather than at an angle. I love rigatoni because you can toss them with chunky sauces but also bake them in the oven. They hold their shape well and do not turn too soft when baked when compared to other types of pastas.

Cook time: 11 – 13 minutes

Ideal sauces: Chunky meat or vegetable sauces and thicker cream sauce. Good for baking.

5. Fusilli

Fusilli is curly, like corkscrews. They are beautiful on a plate and the space between the pasta is perfect to hold onto coarse sauces. Fusilli is also great for pasta salads because of the same reason: chunks of ham or tuna and other vegetables will get trapped in the screw threads, making each bite delicious.

Cook time: 8 – 10 minutes

Ideal sauces: cheesy pasta sauces, coarse tomato meat/vegetable sauce, pestos, pasta salads and baked pastas.