Penne or any tubular pasta with fresh basil leaves, olive oil and red pepper flakes is an ideal supporting act.

So is ziti cacio e ova, a mixture of small tubular pasta with cheese and eggs, which resonates with flavor.

Mr. Plotkin likes it on tubular pasta, but warns that it should be used sparingly.

Penne: This tubular pasta comes in both a smooth and ridged (rigate) variety.

Rigatoni Borghese translated to the large tubular pasta melded with slices of sausage, chopped broccoli rabe, spicy cherry peppers and garlic in a white wine sauce.

One of my favorite Italian soups is pasta e fagioli, which is made from borlotti beans and penne rigate, short tubular pasta.

Other varieties, especially short, tubular pastas like penne are more suitable for large quantities on a buffet table, as are baked pasta dishes, including lasagna.

Thicker and chunkier sauces have the better ability to cling onto the holes and cuts of short, tubular, twisted pastas.

Pasta e fagioli was devoid of its signature smoky flavor and translated to a bowl of underseasoned beans and tubular pasta.

This was a thick soup of white beans, mussels, ditalini (a short tubular pasta), a little tomato and a lot of garlic, not at all heavy on a hot day.