Choosing a sauce is only half of the pasta decision. Shape changes how much sauce reaches each bite, how the pasta feels on the fork and how ingredients such as guanciale, vegetables or seafood are carried.
Long pasta: tagliatelle, linguine and spaghetti
Long strands are excellent with sauces that coat the pasta evenly. Linguine works naturally with seafood and aromatic sauces, while tagliatelle gives richer sauces a broad surface to cling to. Spaghetti remains one of the most versatile choices.
Spaghetti chitarre
Chitarre has a more defined, squared profile than ordinary spaghetti. Its texture gives cheese, tomato and meat sauces plenty of surface contact.
Paccheri and rigatoni
Large tubes such as paccheri can hold sauce inside as well as outside, while rigatoni works particularly well with robust sauces because its shape captures pieces of meat, vegetables and cheese.
Special fresh pasta
Spinach, squid ink and chilli pasta introduce another layer of flavour and visual character. Their best pairings depend on the sauce: seafood can work particularly well with squid ink pasta, while vegetable, cheese or tomato sauces can complement spinach and chilli variations.
Choose your own combination in Valletta
At Pastaus, the menu is designed around choice. Start with the fresh pasta shape that appeals to you, then match it with a traditional or special sauce.