The best shapes for tomato with cacioricotta
Fresh tomato cooked briefly so it keeps its acidity, finished with grated cacioricotta, the pressed and salted ricotta of Puglia and Basilicata. A summer dish, and lighter than any cooked-down tomato sauce.
Fresh tomato finished with grated cacioricotta, the Puglia and Basilicata summer standard for hand shapes.
Canonical: orecchiette, cavatelli, fusilli.
The ridged back and hollow belly catch and hold a thick sauce, which is why the canonical pairing is malloreddus alla campidanese: a ragu of crumbled Sardinian fennel sausage, tomato and saffron, finished with grated pecorino sardo.
Each piece is a small cup with a thin center and a thicker rim, so one bite carries two textures.
The open twist and the rough hand-rolled surface of the semolina ribbon catch and hold sauce in their folds.
The rough, dragged face and slightly cupped form catch and hold loose, rustic dressings.
What we would not put it on
Large tubes. A sauce this light cannot fill them, and the shape ends up carrying more air than tomato.
Want it the other way around? Start from a shape in the Pairing Finder.
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