Make Your Own Pesto Cavatappi (Noodles & Co. Copycat Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is a good substitute for Cavatappi? ›

Cavatappi: You can substitute rotini, rigatoni, bow-tie, or any small or medium-sized pasta. Mushrooms: Noodles & Company puts them in, but you can leave them out. White wine: Choose a dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay.

Pesto Sauce

This fresh and fragrant pasta sauce is served uncooked, so choose a pasta shape that won't overwhelm it. Similar to oil-based sauces, pesto is served best with longer cuts of pasta, like the corkscrew shape of Fusilli. Pesto works best with Bucatini, Capellini, thinner Spaghettini, and Fettuccine.

Cavatappi is a spiral pasta with a hollow center and outer ridges. Made with just durum wheat semolina and water, this springy spiral pasta originated in Southern Italy.

For a protein-rich pasta topper, your best bet is to make a pesto (like this one) that's loaded with pine nuts and Parmesan—two solid protein sources. For a healthier pesto that still boasts an impressive amount of protein, try this superfood version made with sunflower and hemp seeds.

Fusilli. With more ridges, twists, and turns than cavatappi or cellentani, fusilli is another short corkscrew-shaped pasta that's worth cooking any night of the week. It's one of the most versatile shapes of the bunch, its ridges catching bits of meat, vegetables, and sauce.

Cavatappi is macaroni formed in a helical tube shape. Cavatappi is the Italian word for corkscrew. Cavatelli resembles a tiny hot dog bun. Commonly known as "shells" or "seashells." These are usually sold in the plain durum wheat variety, and also in colored varieties.

Garlic is a traditional component that livens up the pesto with aromatics and makes it taste a whole lot more interesting. Don't skip it.

Pesto alla genovese ( Italian: [ˈpesto alla dʒenoˈveːse, -eːze]; lit. 'Genoese pesto') refers to the original dish.

Italian Tradition

Pesto is the perfect sauce to enjoy with a dish of trofie (the traditional Ligurian short pasta), lasagna, potato gnocchi or as a topping for a bowl of minestrone. It can be mixed into tomato sauce to enhance the flavor of pasta dishes or used with fish fillets to make them more appetizing.

Cellentani is also known as Cavatappi, which translates from Italian to “corkscrew;” the other common object this cut resembles.

Why is it called Scooby Doo pasta? ›

Vernacular names of this pasta are “scoobi doo” and “double elbows”. Typically, it has a furrowed or grooved surface making it able to hold sauces in salads and casserole dishes. Its name is technically derived from the compound terms “cava tappi” which means “tap extractor” or simply corkscrew.

A delightful corkscrew-shaped pasta, Barilla® Cellentani is as fun to look at as it is to eat.

You'll want to be mindful of the sodium content. Some jars have more than 500mg per serving and the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend you eat no more than 2,300mg per day. It would be hard to stay within those guidelines if you get more than 20% of your sodium from pesto.

That's largely down to the fact that most pesto sauces contain generous amounts of oil, nuts, and cheese. All three of these are high in fat and calories, so eating too much pesto, too regularly, and not getting enough exercise can ultimately be fattening.

According to Italian traditional eating habits, pasta al pesto is served as a first course; after it you can have any second (meat, poultry, fish) with or without side order. But AFTER it, not together! I agree with Paolo that alone it is enough but some fresh foccacia would go nicely and some good white wine too!

Cavatappi is usually scored with lines or ridges (rigati in Italian) on the surface. Cavatappi is a type of macaroni, or thick, hollow pasta that is made without using eggs. It may be yellow in color, like most pastas, or have vegetables or a food coloring added to make it green or red.

“I think cavatappi is the best shape for mac and cheese, whether stovetop or baked,” said Sydney Wilcox, a chef and culinary instructor. “It is like a long, curly elbow. The shape has twists and turns, so it catches all the cheese. But [it's a bigger] pasta than an elbow, so there is more chew.”