Bucatini; the spaghetti with a hole!
Bucatini is a type of pasta very similar to spaghettoni, meaning large spaghetti (yes there are thick spaghetti!) However, bucatini have a tiny hole running through them, which some Italians say makes it a great pasta for hearty or creamy sauces as the sauce actually gets inside. I’m not sure about sauce getting very far into the pasta unless you use it like a straw and suck the sauce through it. Yes, you can! But maybe all the sucking and slurping that ensues might shock your dining companions, unless you’re 12 years old of course!!
I do know that one reason for the hole is it enables the pasta to cook more evenly, inside and out. Otherwise the inside would still be hard when the outside is cooked. However, the origin of the hole most probably lies in the original method of making this type of pasta by hand with a rush or a thin rod known as a ferretto. A small piece of pasta dough was rolled and stretched around the ferretto which was then withdrawn, leaving a hole inside the length of the piece of pasta. This is also the way busiate , maccheroni al ferretto and fusilli are still made by hand in southern Italy.
Nowadays, this pasta is commercially produced by many Italian pasta makers and can be bought throughout Italy as well as online or in Italian speciality shops abroad. It also exists in a small version - bucatini piccoli, a big version- bucatini grandi and a grooved version called bucatini rigati.
The name ‘bucatini’ comes from the Italian ‘buco’ meaning hole. However, like so many pastas, this type has a different name in Southern Italy where it is often called perciatelli from the Neopolitan word ‘perciato’ meaning pierced. I have read that in the USA it is sometimes easier to find it packaged as perciatelli rather than bucatini.
Although most probably invented in Southern Italy, this pasta is very popular in Central Italy, in particular Rome and is used in many classic Roman pasta recipes such as carbonara and cacio e pepe. Bucatini is also ‘the’ pasta to eat with amatriciana in Rome and that is one of the first recipes I have posted for it. I also like to eat this pasta with arrabbiata, even though penne is the more traditional pasta for that sauce. If you haven’t tried this pasta before you must do so. It’s super tasty and all that sucking and slurping is such fun!
Jp Merzetti says
I have loved bucatini my entire life. It probably first showed up when I was three and instantly became a favourite. I have always thought of it as a wonderful alternative to fettucine or linguine (the flat noodles) and in fact, as a mere tot, referred to bucatini as fat noodles.
And yes, of course it is the sucking and the slopping and the slurping that makes this pasta such a joy. As for stuffing? (sauce in the tiny little hole...) No - I leave that to rigatoni.
My grandfather emigrated from a tiny village about 40 miles south of Rome, so I'm not surprised that bucatini showed up early in my young life. Love this blog. I'm sure I'll be back again to explore the wonders of Italian cuisine. That elusive perfect lasagna is a life's mission.
Jacqui says
Thanks so much for your comment. I have also loved bucatini since I was a kid! Thrilled to read you love this blog. The world of Italian pasta really is vast, interesting and delicious! Do check out my lasagna recipes for some seriously good versions!
Soul Healing says
Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading your blog posts. Can you recommend any other blogs that go over the same topics? Thanks a ton!
Alison says
I’d like to buy the tool to make it. I believe it’s called a ferretto (thank you Google) Any ideas? Definitely not on Amazon.
Jacqui says
Hi Alison, thanks for your comment. Nowadays, it's not so easy to buy a ferretto. I have one which was given to me by an old woman in Puglia. I found a couple of Italian sites that sell them but whether they would ship to where you live, I don't know. This one ships to Europe. https://www.elettrocenter.biz/prodotto/ferretto-per-fusilli-copia/ However, this ferretto looks like it is square cut so I'm not sure it would work for bucatini! The hole would be square not round. The other 2 options you have is 1) if you have a kitchen machine that makes pasta, some producers sell a bucatini mold for their machines, called a die. Kenwood has it https://www.kenwoodworld.com/en-int/products/kitchen-machines/chef-and-major-attachments/at910012-metal-pasta-maker-die-bucatini or 2) you can improvise with a knitting needle or even part of a wire clothes hanger!
Danielle Wolter says
I am just a huge fan of bucatini! if I see it on a menu I am sure to order it. Interesting to learn a little about the origins too 🙂
The Pasta Project says
Hi Danielle, bucatini is a great choice, and especially with an amatriciana or arrabiata recipe!
Helen Zirkle says
So we ended up arguing tonight: how does the sauce get inside that tiny hole and will the skinny bucatini? One person believed the hype, I do not. Even cooking is about the only difference IMO over regular spaghetti. A third person likes angel hair pasta, and the regular spaghetti over bucatini.
Food still has to obey the laws of physics, so what would make the sauce go inside the bucatini, laying mangled, mostly horizontal, covered by pasta sauce? I see people claim that not only is the sauce coating the outside but also the inside is filled with sauce. I think that can certainly happen with mac n cheese type noodles, they are short and the holes are large in comparison, so it you stir that around enough the cheese is on the inside as well.
Helen Zirkle says
Sorry my typo: fill the skinny bucatini?