Bucatini Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, carrots, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring to coat the vegetables. Add the beef, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes.
• Add the canned tomatoes, bucatini, 3 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir to ensure the pasta is submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil and continue to cook, stirring frequently to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce has thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs. Stir in the Parmesan and parsley and season with salt to taste. Divide among 4 bowls and serve with additional parsley and Parmesan.
• Cook's Note: The success of this recipe is dependent upon the specific pasta shape suggested, so we don't recommend substitutions.

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!

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.

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.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Cook bucatini in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Place grated Pecorino Romano cheese into a large glass bowl and mix with a fork to make sure the cheese contains no lumps.
• Once the bucatini are al dente, lift them out with a spaghetti fork or tongs and put them directly into the bowl with the cheese. Do not allow the water to drain too much.
• Add one ladle of pasta water to the bowl. Stir the bucatini around until a cream has formed. Add more pasta water, little by little, until a thick cream has formed. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper over the pasta. Toss and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Toast bread and turn into crumbs by tearing up and blending it in a blender (really easy method, try it!).
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook bucatini for about 8 minutes (or according to package directions), until al dente.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a very large skillet. Add garlic and shallots and saute until soft.
• Add chili flakes, olives, capers and chickpeas and cook another minute or so. (If using tuna, break into flakes and add now.) Cook until ingredients are warm and remove from heat.
• Drain pasta and reserve about 1 cup water. Add pasta, parsley and mint to skillet. Return to low heat and toss well. Add additional olive oil (if desired) and some or all of pasta water to moisten ingredients.
• Season with salt, black pepper and more chili flakes if desired. Transfer to a warm serving bowl, top with bread crumbs and parmesan if using and serve.

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.

Steps:

• 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for pasta. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Add the sausage. Cook and crumble with a wooden spoon until the sausage is well browned, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper and cook until wilted, about 8 minutes, adding a splash of pasta water if the pan seems dry at any point.
• 2. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the wine and reduce, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 2 cups pasta water. Stir in the oregano and season with salt and red pepper flakes. Adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until thick and flavorful, about 20 minutes.
• 3. When the sauce is almost ready, add the bucatini to the boiling water. When the pasta is al dente, remove it with tongs and add directly to the sauce, reserving the pasta water. Add the parsley. Toss to coat the pasta in the sauce, adding a splash of pasta water if the pasta seems dry. Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle with the grated Grana Padano, toss, and serve.

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.