Bucatini all'arrabbiata

Bucatini?  What in the world? Imagine rolling dough out, and then around a piece of straw. Pull out the straw and you have bucatini, or spaghetti with hole.  They're found in Italian specially stores and sometimes at gourmet grocers. Personally they're not my favorite just because they're hard to cook al dente. Here's the trick though to getting it perfect. . 

Bring your salted water to a boil. Read the package for number of minutes to cook.  Pour pasta into boiling water, stir, cover, and TURN OFF FIRE. Yep. Turn it off. Set the timer and when it dings you'll have perfect pasta. (Don't peek by the way). 

This is such a great system.  Saves electricity, saves steam and heat in the kitchen, and cooks your pasta perfectly al dente all the way through every time. Pastas like bow tie and bucatini especially need this because they tend to cook more on the outside and less at the center. Try it and see how you like it! 

Tonight we picked up some red pepper bucatini from a cousin's fresh pasta shop. I think they're cousins anyway. We are related to half the people in the area somehow. Bright red swirls of thick round pasta. Just too hard to resist. Got some fresh ricotta and spinach ravioli too. Mmm. I think Sunday we will come get their broccoli and almond stuffed orecchiette, or maybe their pistachio and ricotta pasta. Just yum. 

Anyway, my daughter wanted to cook for me, and since I'm fighting some congestion, she said I needed spicy. We stopped and got a fresh, long, spicy pepper, a can of tomato 'pulp', and two eggplants. €4. About $5.50. With €2 for pasta we were at $8 for dinner. Nice. 

Annemarie's Bucatini all'arrabbiata 

In a saucepan heat on medium hi about 2 tbsp olive oil. Slice  1" of the hot pepper into circles. Crush a clove of garlic with the side of your knife. Toss all that in the oil. Don't put the pepper seeds. 

Cook on medium hi for a few minutes and put your pasta water on to boil. 

Add a 14oz can of tomato pulp, or polpa. Kind of like our crushed tomatoes. Add a tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook on medium hi semi-covered for five-ten minutes to reduce the watery liquid down. 

Slice eggplant into 1/4" slices and brown in a skillet either dry or with a little olive oil. Salt each side. Cook till soft and brown. Set aside. 

When salted pasta water boils dump in pasta, stir, cover, turn off and set timer. Don't open the lid at all till timer rings. 

Taste sauce for salt or bitterness. If bitter add a pinch of sugar. 

When everything is done, pull your bucatini out of the water and put right into the sauce. Toss together. 

Serve topped with grilled eggplant, some crusty bread, and we like it with some fresh arugula on top. A little grated ricotta salata cheese goes perfect too. 

We ended the meal with cheese and some buttery pears. 

My congestion cleared right up, by the way. Just what the doctor ordered!