The best shapes for mixed seafood

The long twist works like a spring.

The wide short ring wants seafood and a light tomato base, not heavy meat.

Fideos are most often dry-toasted or browned in oil first, then simmered directly in stock or sauce so they absorb liquid rather than being boiled and drained.

The flat leaf body offers broad surface for a sauce to cling to, while the raised central ridge and slightly thicker curved edges give the strand structure and grip.

Toasting changes how fregula behaves.

A linguine strand is an oval, not a circle, so it lays two flat faces against a sauce instead of one curved line.

The braided twist gives the ring a ridged, grooved surface that traps sauce along the plait, and the open center lets a brothy or oily sauce pool through.

This is a very fine, porous all-egg ribbon, so it drinks up a light meat sauce rather than carrying a heavy one.

A cooked pacchero rarely stays a cylinder.

This is a short, thick, rough fresh ribbon, so it wants a sauce with body and pieces to catch.

The curved body cups sauce on the outside while the open split traps smaller bits and liquid along its channel.

Spaghettini runs thinner than spaghetti, so it boils faster and asks for sauces that stay light.

A thick rough square strand carries weight and clings to dense sauces, so the traditional dressings are hearty.