Spicy Bucatini Pasta Recipes

SPICY BUCATINI RECIPE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Season generously with salt, it should taste almost as salty a sea water.
• Heat a large skillet to a medium-high heat. Add butter. Let the butter melt and once it starts to brown on the edges, start to swirl the pan. Continue to swirl the pan until the butter turns a deep brown color and smells nutty. It shouldn't be blonde in color, it should be very brown with dark specks.
• Once the butter is brown, turn the heat down to medium and add in the tomatoes and chilies. Toss in the butter. Continue to cook the tomatoes and chilies for about 4-5 minutes until you can see the skin of the tomatoes start to blister.
• When the tomatoes soften, drop the bucatini into the salted, boiling water.
• Turn the heat down to medium low and add in the almonds, garlic, and thyme. Toss with the tomatoes and butter. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is softened and the almonds are toasted. Add in salt. Toss to combine. Use a wooden spoon to smash a few about 10 of the tomatoes. If the bucatini isn't done cooking, remove from the tomatoes from the heat.
• The bucatini is done cooking when it's just UNDER aldente. We want it to be just under because it will continue to cook when we toss the noodles with the sauce and pasta water. Use tongs to transfer the pasta to the tomatoes and sauce. RESERVE that pasta water! Toss the pasta with the tomatoes, nuts, and chilies. Add pasta water and parm. Toss until parmesan has melted into the sauce. If needed, add a little bit more pasta water to get to desired sauce consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with more parm.

SPICY BUCATINI PASTA

Steps:

• In 4-quart Dutch oven or 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook parsley, thyme, onion and chile in oil about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, just until onion is soft.
• Stir in bacon. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bacon is crisp. Drain fat, reserving 2 tablespoons; discard remaining fat.
• Stir vinegar into bacon mixture; cook until evaporated. Stir in tomatoes and reserved bacon fat. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta as directed on package. Add pasta to tomato mixture. Cook over high heat about 3 minutes, tossing gently, until pasta is 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 ALL'AMATRICIANA WITH SPICY SMOKED MOZZARELLA MEATBALLS

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a large heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta and reserve. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and the cooked pancetta. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• For the meatballs: Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine the onion, 1/2 cup parsley, 2/3 cup Parmesan, bread crumbs, egg, ketchup, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the beef and veal. Using your hands, combine all ingredients gently but thoroughly. Shape the meat mixture into 16 (1 1/2-inch-diameter) meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Make a hole in the center of each meatball and place a cube of mozzarella inside. Reform the meatball so that the mozzarella is completely covered with the meat mixture. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes until cooked through.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and place in a large serving bowl. Add the meatballs and sauce. Toss gently and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and Parmesan.

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 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 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.

BUCATINI ALL'AMATRICIANA

Steps:

• Cook guanciale in a large deep skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp and fat is fully rendered, about 10 minutes. Stir in crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and simmer until thickened and tomatoes have broken down, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until just al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Add pasta to skillet along with reserved cooking liquid and cook over high heat, stirring and tossing, until pasta is thickly coated with sauce, about 3 minutes. Stir in oil and cheese and serve.
• Do ahead
• The sauce can be cooked up to 3 days ahead. Refrigerate in an airtight container.

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.