Shapes of Things to Come

We’d seen penne and farfalle, bucatini and fusilli, but never aglioini , or would that be aglioetti ? Cuisine Perel keeps it simple and just calls it garlic pasta, but it’s one of the most appealing products from the San Rafael, Calif. firm. Picture pasta shaped like a beautifully detailed head of garlic. As you can tell when you cook it, there’s actually garlic in the pasta itself . . . but don’t let that stop you from serving it with, say, a head of garlic sliced thin and briefly fried in olive oil.

It’s usually found in the vicinity of Perel’s other odd-shaped pastas--jalapenos (red-orange), artichokes (dark khaki) or bunches of grapes (yellow for Chardonnay, dark magenta for Cabernet)--at Cost Plus, Bristol Farms Markets and gourmet stores.