Fresh pasta vs. dried pasta

Dried pasta

Dried pasta is made from durum wheat semolina and water, shaped and then dried. It's firm, holds its shape and keeps a satisfying bite when cooked al dente. It's strongly associated with southern Italy and suits olive oil-based and tomato sauces especially well.

Fresh pasta

Fresh pasta is made and cooked soon after, and it's softer and more tender than dried. In northern Italy, especially Emilia-Romagna, it's typically made from flour and eggs and cut into ribbons such as tagliatelle or filled as ravioli and tortellini. It cooks in just a few minutes and works well with butter, cream and meat ragù.

There's a southern tradition of fresh pasta too, usually made without eggs. Orecchiette from Puglia, for example, is made from semolina and water.

Matching shape to sauce

• Long, thin strands such as spaghetti suit oil-based and lighter tomato sauces.
• Wide ribbons such as tagliatelle suit rich meat ragù.
• Tubes and ridged shapes such as rigatoni and casarecce hold chunky or creamy sauces. Seneca Trattoria serves casarecce alla vodka.
• Filled pastas such as ravioli and tortellini are usually served with lighter sauces so the filling stays the star.

Build-your-own pasta

Some counter-service spots let you choose every element yourself. At Pastalini you pick the pasta, sauce and toppings, then have it sautéed or baked.

How we judge pasta

Kitchen craft is worth 35 points in our methodology, and what's made in-house is one of the things we look at. See how each restaurant scores on our best pasta in San Diego list.