Great article, but I have to admit I'm a bit surprised by the adoration here: I've on occasion accidentally bought bucatini when I wanted spaghetti, and was mostly annoyed by the tubes squirting out hot water when I tried to eat them like they were spaghetti. Any bucatini-optimized pasta recipes to recommend?
Bucatini alla amatriciana or bucatini alla carbonara. But I'm not sure if you will be able to find Guanciale (a derivate of pork jowl or cheeks) and Pecorino cheese. You can replace Guanciale with cubes of -smoked- bacon (please forgive me italian readers) and Pecorino with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (that should be more easier to find).
Important: as shared by other HN users, remember to put the pasta out of hot water a couple of minutes before the cooking time and stir it on a hot pan with the sauce for the last 2 minutes. Make sure to add also a few tablespoons of the hot (salted) water you used to cook the pasta, this helps to make the cream effect.
Do you finish the pasta in the sauce? That helps coat the pasta in the sauce, both inside and out.
Basically take the pasta out of the water a few minutes early, put it in a pan with the sauce and some of the pasta cooking water, and finish cooking it there.
