I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, bucatini is one of my top-three favorite pasta shapes (pappardelle and orechiette being the other two).  A heartier version of spaghetti noodles that have a unique thing going for them: there is a hole all the way down the middle of the pasta.  Designed for trapping in the sauce and juices that you just so happen to toss the pasta in, bucatini is fabulous with a bolognese sauce, pesto sauce, or even in a simple olive oil-based sauce like this one.  (Or even cooked to al dente and tossed with olive oil, melted anchovies, sliced garlic and crusehd red pepper flakes…just sayin’…)

For this colorful pasta dish I toss the al dente bucatini with asparagus tips, crispy cubed pancetta, lemon zest, sliced garlic and fresh watercress before serving.  Oh, and if you happen to have a wedge of Parmesan or Pecorino Peppato in the fridge, cubes of that a well.  Fresh with the addition of the lemon zest, seasonal asparagus and peppery fresh watercress, another great thing about this dish is that all of the toss-in ingredients that go into the bucatini are roasted together in the oven. So, only two pots/pans are needed: a roasting pan and the large pot to boil the lovely, lovely pasta. Oh, and to guild the lily, I top this pasta with roughly chopped Marcona almonds, but I can see chopped pistachios or pine nuts working equally as well.

(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)

Tagged: almonds, asparagus, bucatini, bucatini pasta, Italian, Italy, lemon juice, lemon zest, Marcona almonds, nuts, pancetta, pancetta cubes, pasta, pecorino cheese, watercress