If You Want Your Sauce To Stick, Go For This Pasta Shape

With hundreds of pasta shapes to choose from, narrowing this selection down to a favorite can seem impossible. Some might argue rigatoni is the best pasta shape, while others swear by bow-shaped farfelle. Pasta is easy to cook and offers endless versatility in the kitchen — there are so many amazing pasta recipes that never get boring and that are super quick to make. Still, when it comes to getting sauces to stick, radiatori pasta knocks out the competition.

Radiatori pasta's unique shape traps heavy sauces and catches finely chopped ingredients in a way that other pasta shapes simply can't. Though spaghetti or penne are perfectly fine for certain dishes, they struggle to hold and absorb thicker sauces, which tend to slide off the fine pasta strands before diners have a chance to scoop it up. If you're looking for uniquely shaped pasta to serve with your next batch of bolognese or homemade Alfredo sauce, radiatori is your new best friend.

There are some pretty funky shapes in the pasta world. (If you've never seen the adorable mushroom-shaped pasta known as campanelle, we suggest you try some — it's a seriously underrated option for mac and cheese.) Radiatori is right up there in terms of outside-the-box pasta shapes. Radiatori translates to "radiators" in English, which is fitting given that it resembles a car cooling system. More specifically, the pasta is believed to have been modeled after a Bugatti radiator, showcasing Italian's love for stylish cars. The grill-shaped noodle is relatively new in the pasta world but has quickly gained popularity for its uncanny ability to absorb sauces.

The pasta's short, chunky body is perfect for catching small slices of tomato, spinach, sausage, or any other thinly sliced ingredient. Ruffled edges and a hollow center make the pasta exceptionally good at collecting toppings since ingredients can easily settle into the folds, making every bite a flavor explosion. Thanks to its uncommon shape and sauce-holding abilities, radiatori pasta elevates any dish, ensuring you get a range of tastes in every forkful.