If you think you're familiar with every pasta shape in the book, chances are, this will surprise you! Calamarata is a classic tube pasta from Napoli (Naples), in the shape, you guessed it, of calamari rings. There are two versions of this shape, Calamarata is the larger one, while Calamariti is the smaller version. Additionally, you might sometimes see Calamarata pasta dyed black with squid ink. Vero Lucano is an artisan pasta company from Matera Basilicata produces small-batch pasta in authentic and classic Italian shapes. The region of Matera is famous for producing high quality durum wheat since the 14th century, and at Vero Lucano pasta, a consortium of artisan bakers makes each batch by hand, using bronze dyes. Calamarata is the pasta by excellence for seafood and shellfish recipes and sauces, perfect to serve with squid sauce, stewed cuttlefish, bottarga or any other seafood-based sauce or ingredient. The shape lends itself to chunky roasted vegetables, or simple fresh vegetables for a summer pasta salad. The large diameter of the hole of this shape means that very liquid or smooth sauces will simply slide through, so it's not so well suited to plain tomato or cream sauces. However, because Vero Lucano pasta is bronze extruded, the surface will still hold the liquid much better than regular industrial pastas. This process of extruding the pasta through the bronze dye or mold makes for a pasta that's coarser, more ridged and more porous, which means the sauces cling rather than slide off - perfecto!