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By Root 4064 0

you have an electric pasta extruder or live near a high-end supermarket that offers fresh pasta in the refrigerator case. They also come in a thin-to-thick continuum: from capelli d’angelo (angel hair) to spaghettini to the familiar spaghetti, and then on up through various hollow tubes like bucatini and perciatelli.

In general, thinner noodles are better for fresh tomato sauces and other simple sauces. The chunkier the sauce, the wider the noodle—although we’re partial to a butter sauce on wide pappardelle.

Finally, there are shaped pastas: ziti (hollow tubes), penne (larger hollow tubes), rigatoni (ribbed hollow tubes), rigate (larger ribbed hollow tubes), rotelle (spirals or wagon wheels, depending on the manufacturer), farfalle (bow ties), and the like.

There are ways to make some of them at home. For example, for curly fusilli, snip fettuccine noodles into 6-inch lengths, twist them into corkscrews, and let them dry on a clean kitchen towel. But going to all this trouble isn’t terribly practical, given the range available at the supermarket. By and large, we save shaped pastas for baked dishes and salads.

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3. Chestnut Pasta

Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta

Dry Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking

1 cup chestnut flour

½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons walnut oil

Sauce Suggestions: Try this pasta with rich sauces such as the Rabbit Ragù or one of the variations to the Cream Sauce—or, best of all, to go with the wide noodles in the Winter Lasagna.

4. Beet Pasta

Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking

½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

½ cup beet puree (see Note)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Note: To make beet puree, cook 2 peeled and halved medium beets in a large pot of boiling water set over high heat until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the cooking water. Cool, then cut into chunks and puree in a food processor fitted with the chopping blade with just as much cooking water as you need to make a puree. Or puree two medium canned beets in a food processor.

Sauce Suggestions: We like these noodles with light olive oil sauces such as Sautéed Garlic Sauce.

5. Butternut Squash Pasta

Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking

½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup mashed cooked butternut squash puree (see Note)

Note: To make a butternut squash puree, cut a small 1-pound butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast it on a lipped baking sheet, cut side down, in a preheated 400°F oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Cool, then scoop out the soft, inner flesh; you’ll have more puree than you need, but what’s left over makes a great side dish, mashed like potatoes.

Sauce Suggestions: These noodles go well with any simple cream or butter sauce.

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You needn’t make your own noodles for a great pasta dish. In fact, you often shouldn’t. Some dishes are better with dried pasta. By and large, fresh pasta is softer, more luxurious, and more fragile; dried pasta is heartier, more toothsome, and far less subtle, a better complement to thicker sauces.

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6. Red Pepper Pasta

Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta

Dry Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and to keep the dough from sticking

½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten, at room temperature

1 cup red pepper puree (see Note)

Note: Four jarred pimientos, drained and rinsed, should yield about 1 cup puree when processed in a food processor or a large blender.

Sauce Suggestions: We prefer these with the Walnut Sauce or Clams and Cherry Tomatoes.

7. Spinach Pasta

Makes about 1 pound fresh pasta