There's a whole world of smaller pasta shapes designed for dishes best eaten by the spoonful. Ditalini may be one of the most famous for its use in the classic Italian soup, Pasta e Fagioli. Sometimes called tubettini, ditalini is a shorter version of macaroni and can be made likewise using a pasta extruder. The exterior can be smooth or ridged and technically falls under the "pastina" family of pasta shapes for its small size.
GourmetSleuth reports that ditalini — which translates to "little thimbles"— is too short to hold on to much of anything for very long. This shape in a soup works because it's small enough to fit on a spoon and any broth. Ditalini is also sometimes used in minestrone. If you want to use this shape for something outside the world of soups and stews, try pairing it with similarly shaped foods, like peas or finely chopped pancetta.