Radiatori pasta is a chunky pasta shape that, as the name suggests, strongly resembles an old-fashioned steam radiator. Radiatori pasta is ideal for thick, chunky sauces because the ridges trap the sauce, ensuring that it coats all of the pasta. It can also be used with finer sauces because the ridges trap the sauce, ensuring that it coats all of the pasta. Radiatori pasta is available in many markets, sometimes in a variety of flavors, and it can also be made at home if you have a pasta extruder.
The back of this pasta shape is flat and folded in on itself, with a series of ridged protrusions. Radiatori pasta is usually cut into small chunks and cooked curled, with the ridges pointing out. The ridges are sometimes ruffled to add texture, but they are more often straight and evenly spaced.
Radiatori pasta can be flavored or colored with sundried tomatoes, spinach, squid ink, and other ingredients in addition to being available plain. The best radiatori pasta is made with durum wheat, a hard variety of wheat that produces chewy, resilient pasta even when slightly overcooked. Softer wheat pasta will fall apart during cooking, and it will perform particularly poorly in soups and casseroles, where the moisture will cause the pasta to dissolve slowly.
Radiatori pasta can be served as a main course with a variety of sauces, as listed above. It can also be eaten on its own or combined with a variety of other ingredients to make pasta salad. Durum radiatori can be used in soups and casseroles, with this pasta being particularly well-suited to casseroles due to its numerous flavor nooks and crannies. This pasta shape may pique the interest of younger members of the family, which is useful when dealing with picky eaters.
Pasta’s long shelf life is one of the reasons it is so popular all over the world. As long as it is not exposed to moisture, a container of dried radiatori pasta will last indefinitely. If you store your pasta in a cool, dry place, it will last for a long time, allowing you to stock your pantry with a variety of pastas to suit all needs and tastes.