Why so many different shapes? And must clam sauce always be eaten with linguini?

I’ve suggested shapes with each sauce in this lesson but, as you’ve no doubt experienced, there are more shapes and sizes out there every day. Familiar combinations are part tradition, part whimsy. Classically, long pasta goes with thinner-bodied, smoother sauces like tomato. Chunkier, thicker sauces tend to go better with shorter pasta. The idea is to find a match that maximizes contact between pasta and sauce and is easy to manage on the fork.