Lou Hughesele

NoodiMag Volume 10

Welcome to NoodiMag, the container for all my noodling on noodles, pastas, and all related topics.

Pasta Shapes Consumed: Maccheroni Greci; Crest di Gallo; Rice Rotini; Gigli/Bigger Campanelle; Mafaldine Corte; Snowfall by Barilla; Love by Barilla; World Cup by Reggano; Mezzi Rigatoni Rigati;

Total Pasta Shapes To Date: 35

The Appetizer:

I’ve got a lot of personal pasta news. I’ve actually kind of been too busy eating pastas to write about them. First, I got to try two specialty shapes, courtesy of NE, who did in fact share them with me for the purpose of getting a NoodiMag mention. (Just so you know, you are allowed to do this as well!) Then I got to try a variation of campanelle, which I wrote about in the last issue, courtesy of ML. I got lucky enough to find mafaldine corte in the grocery store, which was very exciting!! They are like miniature lasagnas! I had half a mind to find a miniature baking dish and making the World’s Tiniest Lasagna!!

I still need to get my hands on regular mafaldine, which is this same delightfully ruffled noodle but long. I simply have to know what that’s like.

Anyways, then I got to have a wonderful day of trying novelty shapes with LS, my companion in pasta-shape-trying. I finally ate that snowflake shape I got back in January, which it turns out technically has three different snowflake shapes in the box, but we’re counting as one shape because it’s one eating experience. (This is where I could once again noodle on the nature of noodle shapes, but I don’t have time because there’s so much personal pasta news.) LS also managed to pick up the heart shape for Valentine’s Day that I thought I’d missed out on! It was kind of a mezzi rigatoni rigate, but… heart-shaped. Some of the noodles had the ridges on the inside, which was probably a mistake, but made for an interesting eating experience. We also enjoyed a more topical shape (though, love is always on theme!) with the World Cup special edition LS got for her birthday. It was technically four shapes: a soccer ball, a jersey, a trophy, and a cleat. We were so skeptical that these wildly different shapes in terms of detail and actual noodle content would actually cook at the same rate. They more or less did? The trophy was our favorite, but all together it made for an exciting mouthfeel. I also shared my IKEA elks, which thankfully I had more of, making for a grand total of four shapes in one day. Some bowls were topped with butter and parmesan, some with pesto made with love by HL, some with both. We’d started the day with taste testing Schwebel’s breads, thanks to ML’s grief over Schwebel’s going out of business. LS went on to have lasange for dinner that night, which is impressive. Just a gorgeous day of carbohydrates. Perhaps the kids would say we were carbmaxxing?

And finally, we entered pasta salad season. Finally! Time to make a giant batch of pasta and veggies and let that be What I Eat for a few days!!! I kicked it off with a pasta caprese made with chifferi rigati and chickpeas and zucchini added in. I kind of, uh, forgot to get basil though, so I just topped it with leftover pesto. It was so delightful, just by virtue of being pasta salad, but the next week I did it even better, made with mezzi rigatoni rigati and sun-dried tomatoes and actual basil and the pearl mozzerella instead of a torn up ball and extra lemon juice and no chickpeas this time and the fresh tomatoes got more time to marinate in the dressing. Absolutely wonderful!!!! Oh wow!

By the time you’re reading this I will have made at least one more pasta salad, though likely more, as my weekend plans are mostly Eating Pasta Salads. What’s better than this!!!!!!!

Oh, what’s better is that I am overjoyed to present to you… our first guest feature!!!! This issue’s entree was cooked up by none other than the famous LS!!!

The Entree:

The Year of Pasta and How It Brings Whimsy Back into Everyday Life
by Lucie (LS); edited by Lou

Hello, NoodiMag readers! I am honored to be here as a guest writer. Some of you may know how I feel about pasta, and if you don’t and you can’t guess, the answer is passionately. I am very passionate about my love of pasta, and would be happy to eat it for most of my meals.  

Lou and I have been on this journey of trying different pasta shapes together in 2026, and, as of the end of June, I’ve tried 34 different shapes! 

You may wonder where the desire to try as many shapes as possible comes from, and the answer could be as simple as a silly Instagram video I saw at the end of 2025, followed by many passionate conversations with my dear friend Lou, or it could as introspective as finding ways to add joy and whimsy to every shopping trip and meal planning session. Here’s how:  

I remember as a child begging my mom for “choochoo wheels,” also known as rotelle (still to come in 2026 for me), just because they made me happy. 

Or going to camp and getting Wacky Mac instead of Macaroni and Cheese because it was kosher, and being so excited about the mix of shapes all in one bowl. 

The desire to try different shapes of pasta doesn’t stem only from my love of the food, but from my sense of wonder and whimsy. As a frequent pasta consumer, it can be mundane. You go to Aldi, see they have cavatappi and farfalle, end up buying 10lbs, and spend the next few months (or weeks) oscillating between two shapes that are known to hit the spot every time. 

But then, you go down the special aisle one day and see they have pastina (tiny stars)! Or cavatelli! Or casarecce! Or gigli! The memories of how happy special shapes made you as a child hits you like a truck full of noodles, and you have to put them in the cart. That sense of whimsy and wonder is the true gift of the Year of Pasta. 

It goes beyond the special random finds. This year I’ve learned that there are different pasta shapes for different seasons and events. (I’m looking at you Snowfall, Love, and World Cup special edition). Being gifted a bag of the World Cup pasta shape for my 30th birthday was kismet, the gifter not even knowing my goal for the year, but instead knowing I appreciate a good international sporting event, and I jumped up and down and scheduled a day to eat it immediately. 

Halfway through the year, there have been many benefits to expanding my horizons and trying new shapes. I’ve gotten to think about what shapes pair well with different sauces, what shapes cook the most evenly, what shapes I want to try again, what it means to think about the “mouth feel” of a new shape. I’ve gotten to revel with friends and family about the impressive feat of having at least 34 different pasta dishes in as little as 26 weeks. But, most importantly, it’s reminded me that it’s okay, and quite nice in fact, to get excited about the little things like buying and eating a new shape of pasta, and to try and find more whimsy and fun in tasks as mundane as grocery shopping and feeding myself. 

I’d like to give a special shout out to Lou and HL who joined me on a monumental Pasta and Puzzle Day where we tried a record of four new shapes of pasta all in one afternoon and where I truly appreciated the whimsy of this challenge and became grateful for the idea and excited all over again that I get to keep doing this for another 6 months- at least :).

The Dessert:

For dessert, I’m giving you a dessert recipe I found in a Highlights magazine that I find both unhinged and delightful. This is on par with spaghettieis. More desserts that look like spaghetti, please!!!

Thanks for reading! Maybe next time will be better.