Bucatini Recipes

BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in bucatini and return to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until bucatini is tender, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic cloves; cook until golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and discard. Add guanciale; cook and stir until crisp and golden, about 4 minutes. Add onion and red pepper flakes; cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and black pepper. Simmer tomato sauce until flavors combine, about 10 minutes.
• Stir bucatini and Pecorino Romano cheese into tomato sauce and toss until evenly coated.

BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA

Steps:

• Coat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the guanciale and saute over low heat. Cook until it is brown and crispy and has rendered a lot of fat. Remove and reserve 1/3 of the guanciale for garnish. Bring the pan to a medium heat and add the onions and crushed red pepper. Season generously with salt, to taste. Cook the onions until they are translucent, starting to turn golden and are very aromatic. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 1 hour, tasting periodically. Adjust the salt, as needed.
• Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package. Remove 3 or 4 ladlefuls of the sauce from the pot to a bowl, as an insurance policy. You can always add it back in but it's harder to take out once the pasta is in the pan. You're looking for the perfect ratio between pasta and sauce. Drain the pasta from the water and add to the pot of sauce. Stir to coat with the sauce. This is how you always finish pasta; you cook it in the sauce to perform the marriage of the pasta and the sauce. Add more sauce, if necessary. Add in the cheese and drizzle with olive oil to really bring the marriage together. Toss to coat and serve in shallow bowls garnished with cheese and the reserved guanciale. Sprinkle with chives to finish, if using.
• YUUUMMMEEEEE!

BUCATINI WITH OLIVE-CAPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, pile the garlic, 1 tablespoon capers and the red pepper flakes on a cutting board; mince, then mash with the flat side of a chef's knife to make a paste. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the olive oil, tomatoes, olives, the remaining 1 tablespoon capers and the butter. Stir in the basil and cheese.
• Add the pasta to the bowl with the tomato mixture and toss until the butter is melted, adding the reserved cooking water to moisten, if needed. Season with salt.

CREAMY BUCATINI WITH SPRING ONIONS AND MINT

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until it is just shy of al dente, usually 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Reserve about 1 cup pasta water for the sauce (a coffee mug is good for this), then drain the pasta.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown at the edges and thoroughly soft, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Add heavy cream, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red-pepper flakes, and a few grinds black pepper to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Let cream reduce and thicken, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Reduce heat to low and stir in Pecorino Romano until combined. Add the drained pasta and about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss well to coat the pasta. If the sauce is too thick, add pasta water by the tablespoon; if it's too thin, let it bubble and reduce for a minute or so. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and chives. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
• Serve in bowls, each topped with more chives, mint, a generous amount of black pepper and a sprinkle of pistachios.

CLASSIC AMATRICIANA BUCATINI

Steps:

• Put the tomatoes into a food processor in batches and whizz to a fine pulp. Sieve into a large pan, in batches again, pressing through as much tomato as you can with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 20-30 mins until the sauce has reduced by a third to about 700ml. This homemade passata can now be frozen.
• Put the bacon or pancetta into a cold, large, heavy-based frying pan. Place over a medium heat - the fat will slowly melt and the bacon will cook. Add the whole chillies (don't worry, they come out at the end) and cook for 8-10 mins with the bacon until the bacon is sizzling and golden all over. Stir in the tomato sauce, bring to the boil and simmer for 4-5 mins.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta, then drain well. While still hot, tip it into the sauce, sprinkle with most of the cheese and stir well. Remove the whole chillies, dish the pasta onto plates and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

BUCATINI ALLA GRICIA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of very lightly salted water to a boil. Cook bucatini in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until almost tender yet still pretty firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Add guanciale and cook slowly until it has rendered all its fat and is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Drain bucatini and reserve cooking water.
• Transfer bucatini to the skillet with the guanciale and finish cooking the pasta in the pan juices, adding a little pasta water at a time until pasta has the right consistency. Stir in Pecorino Romano cheese and season with black pepper. Serve immediately.

BUCATINI WITH MUSHROOMS & SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Tip the dried porcini mushrooms into a large pan with 600ml boiling water from the kettle. Set over a low heat and simmer for 10-15 mins until slightly reduced to make an intense mushroom stock.
• Heat the the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins into the pan and fry for 5-8 mins, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the bucatini and move it around using tongs to prevent it sticking together. Cook for 9 mins. Meanwhile, add the garlic and chilli flakes to the sausagemeat and fry for 1 min before pouring in the wine. Cook for 5 mins more until the wine has reduced, then tip in the rehydrated mushrooms and the stock (you should have about 350ml). Season with salt and black pepper, then bring to a simmer.
• After roughly 9 mins, use the tongs to move the bucatini directly from its cooking water into the mushroom sauce. The mixture will seem quite watery at first, but the trick is to finish cooking the bucatini by simmering it in the broth - it will soak it all up and take on the earthy flavour. Keep moving the pasta in the broth using the tongs for 3 mins, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Stir in the cream, a grating of nutmeg and the parsley. Stir well, taste for seasoning and serve topped with lots of parmesan.