Trofie substitute

Best substitute

Gemelli

Use the same amount by weight as the trofie you are replacing

Best for pesto

Close match

The best substitutes for trofie are gemelli, which is the closest shape on a supermarket shelf, or fusilli and casarecce, all at 1:1 by weight. Cavatappi and orecchiette also work well. Trofie's only job is mechanical: the twist and the slightly rough surface hold thin basil pesto so it coats every piece instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. Pick any short twisted or ridged shape and you have solved it.

Other trofie substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fusilli
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The corkscrew shape traps thin sauces exceptionally well, which is why it is the standard pesto pasta almost everywhere outside Liguria.
What changes
Best for
pesto, pasta salad, oil-based sauces, vegetable sauces, family meals
Holds noticeably more sauce inside the corkscrew than trofie do, so each bite is saucier and richer and you may find yourself using less pesto than the recipe says. Springier and slightly less chewy. Fusilli corti bucati, the hollow spring type, holds even more and is also a good choice.
3Casarecce
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Short rolled scrolls from Sicily, open along one side, and one of the best pesto shapes made.
What changes
Increasingly easy to find.
Best for
pesto, oil-based sauces, vegetable sauces, ricotta sauces
The open scroll catches sauce along its length very effectively and the bite is dense and satisfying, close to trofie. It is smoother than trofie, so slightly less grip on the outside surface, but the internal channel more than compensates. Look for bronze-die versions, which are rougher and better still.
4Cavatappi
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
A hollow corkscrew, sometimes labelled cellentani.
What changes
Excellent cling and a satisfying chew.
Best for
pesto, pasta salad, cheese sauces, family meals, vegetable sauces
Because it is hollow as well as twisted, sauce gets inside the tube and each bite is richer and heavier than trofie deliver. That is a plus with a cheese sauce and a slight mismatch with a delicate basil pesto, where trofie's virtue is a thin even coating rather than a mouthful of sauce. It also holds more water, so drain it well.
5Orecchiette or Malloreddus (Gnocchetti Sardi)
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
Small ridged cups from Puglia and small ridged shells from Sardinia.
What changes
Both grip pesto well and nestle nicely alongside cubes of potato.
Best for
pesto, trofie al pesto with potatoes and green beans, chunky vegetable sauces, sausage and greens
Chunkier and chewier than trofie, and they sit in the bowl in clusters rather than tangling, which changes the eating experience from twirling to spooning. Very good in the Ligurian potato-and-green-bean version, since the shapes are similar in size to the diced potato and everything comes up on the fork together.
6Penne Rigate
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The cupboard fallback.
What changes
Worth naming because it is what most people actually have.
Best for
pesto in a hurry, family meals, baked pasta
The outside ridges give some grip, but the smooth straight interior means thin pesto slides straight through and gathers at the bottom of the bowl, which is the exact problem trofie were invented to solve. Toss it hard with a couple of tablespoons of pasta water and serve immediately, and it is fine. Smooth penne lisce is worse; skip it if you have a choice.
7Gluten-Free Brown Rice Fusilli
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The best gluten-free option, because the corkscrew shape does the sauce-holding work that gluten-free pasta's smoother surface otherwise fails at.
What changes
Best for
pesto, gluten-free pasta salad, vegetable sauces
Softer and more fragile with a slightly grainy bite, and the cooking window is narrow, so start tasting three minutes before the box says. Gluten-free pasta releases less starch into the water, so the cooking water is a weaker binder; loosen the pesto with a tablespoon of olive oil as well as a splash of water and toss off the heat.

What is Trofie?

Trofie is Trofie are short Ligurian pasta twists about an inch and a half long, rolled with tapered ends and a spiral groove that catches thin oily sauces, and they are the traditional shape for pesto.

Cooking tips

Never heat pesto in a pan. Loosen it in the warm serving bowl with two or three tablespoons of hot pasta water, then tip in the drained pasta and toss off the heat. Cooked basil turns dark and bitter within about a minute, and this single habit is the difference between bright green pesto pasta and a dull khaki one.
For the full Ligurian dish, cook everything in one pot: add diced potato to the boiling water five or six minutes before the pasta goes in, then the pasta, then the green beans about four minutes before the pasta is done. The starch the potato releases turns the cooking water into the emulsifier that binds the sauce.
Dried bronze-die trofie usually want 10 to 12 minutes and fresh trofie only 4 to 5, so check which you have. Substituting gemelli or fusilli means following the box time instead, generally 9 to 11 minutes, and tasting two minutes early since a twisted shape can be firm at the core while soft outside.
Taste before you salt the finished dish. Pesto already carries a lot of salt from the Parmesan and pecorino in it, and salted pasta water adds more, so a habit of seasoning at the end regularly makes pesto pasta too salty.
Avoid long pasta for the potato-and-green-bean version specifically. Spaghetti or linguine with pesto is a real Ligurian dish, but add potatoes and beans and everything heavy sinks to the bottom while the strands come up bare. If you only have long pasta, leave the vegetables out.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just use any pasta shape instead of trofie?

Practically speaking yes, as long as it is short and either twisted or ridged. Trofie contribute no flavour at all, only surface texture and shape, so what you are choosing is how well the pasta holds a thin oily sauce. The shapes that genuinely disappoint are smooth long pasta and smooth penne, where the pesto slides off and puddles.

What is the closest supermarket substitute for trofie?

Gemelli, which is close enough that many shops sell one labelled as the other. Fusilli and casarecce are next. If a supermarket has an Italian imports section, look for the word trofie on a De Cecco or Barilla style bag before you give up; it has become fairly common in the last few years.

Do I need trofie specifically for pesto Genovese?

It is the traditional shape, along with trenette, and there is a real reason for it rather than mere custom: the twist and rough surface hold a thin, oily, unemulsified sauce that would otherwise slide off. Any short twisted shape achieves the same thing. Nobody in Liguria would object to gemelli or fusilli, though a plate of smooth penne might raise an eyebrow.

Can I make trofie by hand?

Yes, and it is one of the easier hand-shaped pastas, made from just flour and water with no egg. Roll a small piece into a thin rope, cut it into short lengths, then press and drag each piece diagonally on the board with the side of your palm so it twists with tapered ends. Expect an hour for four servings, and expect them to look irregular, which is correct.

Should I rinse the pasta before adding pesto?

No. Rinsing washes off the surface starch that helps the sauce cling, which defeats the whole reason for choosing a shape like trofie. Save half a cup of the cooking water before you drain, and use that to loosen the pesto instead. The one exception is a cold pasta salad, where a brief rinse stops the pasta clumping as it cools.

Related substitutes

More pasta & noodles substitutes

Trofie substitute

Other trofie substitutes

2Fusilli

3Casarecce

4Cavatappi

5Orecchiette or Malloreddus (Gnocchetti Sardi)

6Penne Rigate

7Gluten-Free Brown Rice Fusilli