Strand Pasta - Strand pasta normally consists of long rods of pasta which can be round, squared or twisted. Strand pasta can also be solid or hollow. The most famous strand pasta, and very likely the most famous of all the pastas, is spaghetti. While pasta comes in various shapes, spaghetti shaped pasta is by far the most common of the pasta types eaten in the United States. We are typically used to seeing one thickness of spaghetti, but it does exist in several thicknesses, particularly in Italy. A variation called spaghettini, a very thin spaghetti is a favored southern Italian dish, while some prefer a very thick spaghetti called spaghettoni. (Italian lesson - "tini" is thin, "toni" is thick). Spaghetti goes well with most sauces, though tomato-based sauces seem to be the most popular. And spaghetti and meatballs is practically as American as apple pie.
Speaking of thin, there is the thinnest of all pasta types, capelli d'angelo, more commonly known as angel hair. Angel hair pasta is a very thin, long, delicate pasta that is often served as a base for broth and tomato-based sauces, with asparagus sauce a favorite, as opposed to some of the heavier sauces. Many like to eat angel hair with nothing more than olive oil or butter on it. One of the things we like about spaghetti is that it cooks rather quickly, but if you're in a hurry, angel hair cooks even more rapidly.
Tubular Pasta - As the name implies, tubular pasta is tube shaped, varying from quite small in diameter to very large. The names given to some of these pasta types depend upon how the ends are cut, whether the tubes are smooth, grooved, or rough, and of course on the size. The purpose behind having the exterior of the tubes grooved (or with ridges) or rough surfaced, is to catch more of the sauce. Larger tubes can be stuffed, but the basic purpose of any tube-type pasta is to capture as much sauce as possible.
One of the better known tube pastas is manicotti, which is often baked after having been stuffed with meat or cheeses. Manicotti is Italian for "sleeve", giving the idea that these are very large tubes (though not really as large as your sleeve). The most popular tubular pasta however is elbow macaroni. There are other types of macaroni besides elbow macaroni, including larger tubes and even some special shapes. The tubular pasta with the strangest name might well be stranglolapreti, which translates as "priest strangler". There is apparently a legend behind the name, and the pasta is rather large in shape, probably best not swallowed whole. The best known of the tube pastas though is penne pasta. Penne come as large tubes with the ends cut on a diagonal, making them appear like quills. Very often the hollow penne pasta has ridges on the exterior. The combination of the ridges, the hollow tube, and the diagonal cut, make penne pasta an excellent pasta for capturing sauces. While most penne pasta is round, you will occasionally see a variety having a triangular cross section.
Shaped Pasta - Name your object, and someone somewhere has very possibly made a pasta in that image. Of all of the pasta types, shaped pasta has the largest number of different variations. Some are quite common; others are produced for special occasions, or are only to be found in certain localities or regions. Two of the shapes we most often come across are the wagon wheel and the corkscrew. You'll also find, and have probably eaten at one time or another, small pieces of pasta shaped like letters, found in alphabet soup. Small rings of pasta are very often found in soups also, as well as in some sauces. A very popular shape is that of a conch shell, which comes in several sizes. Conch shells go well with ragu sauce, where they serve as scoops, and the large size shell is often stuffed and baked.
Returning to the corkscrew shape, called fusulli in Italian, the length and the twists vary from region to region in Italy. Presumably, you could tell where an Italian lived by the twist in his or her corkscrew pasta dish. Corkscrew pasta can be served with a sauce, but is quite often the choice for a pasta salad. Some fusilli are hollow, some are solid. A very large variation, called the giant corkscrew, or fusilloni is used in a wide variety of dishes.
Stuffed Pasta - Pasta doesn't come stuffed but this category includes those pasta types that lend themselves to being stuffed. The best know of the stuffed pastas is ravioli. Ravioli is produced in any number of shapes, but the most common is square and pillow-shaped. Ravioli is often stuffed with a combination of meat, cheese and tomato, but a vegetable filling is common as well, and many people enjoy their ravioli stuffed with seafood. Ravioli is sometimes served in quite large squares (or circles), which can contain enough for a complete dinner. The proper name for these large squares by the way is Ravioloni.
Tortellini is a worldwide favorite as far as stuffed pasta is concerned, and being a rather small, bite-sized pasta, also finds its way in soups. Tortellini is an egg pasta. A larger version of the tortellini, is the tortelloni (there's that Italian lesson again). Angolotti is another, smaller stuffed pasta which has a shape of a priest's cap, of if you're not familiar with what an Italian priest's cap looks like, a half-moon.
Most pasta will taste about the same, regardless of size or shape. The one difference will be whether the pasta is made entirely from wheat, or whether there are egg solids added. But the real joy in eating pasta comes with the sauce or filling, and the size and shape of the pasta is selected with the sauce or filling in mind. Of course the flavor of the pasta contributes to the overall taste of the dish, but unlike most foods, it's the shape of the various pasta types that really makes the difference.