Rustichella Italian Bucatini Pasta
1.1 pounds – Naples, Italy
Italian bucatini pasta is thicker than spaghetti and the center of each long strand is hollow – think of a drinking straw. Rustichella bucatini is thicker than the average store-bought version, and superior ingredients and traditional production methods give it exceptional flavor and texture. The drinking-straw shape of bucatini pasta allows sauces not just to coat it, but to get all the way inside the tubes, too . . . the better to maximize the melding of pasta and sauce!
Serving Suggestions
Bucatini pasta is a staple of Campania, where it is traditionally served with puttanesca sauce;in Lazio, it’s served all’amatriciana, with olive oil, chopped tomato, Pecorino, pancetta and a little crushed red pepper.
About the Producer: Rustichella d’abruzzo
In Italy’s Abruzzo region, pasta is considered art, ritual, culture, and history. The craftsmen at the Pastificio Rustichella d”Abruzzo – located in the village of Pianella about 15 miles from Pescara on the Adriatic – produce their pasta Rustichella d’ Abruzzo with the love and devotion of connoisseurs.
The skill and experience of the Master Pasta Makers are paramount; they employ traditional production methods now abandoned by industrial pasta makers. Starting with just the purest water and semolina from hand-selected durum wheat – whose low ash and high gluten content create superior texture and flavor – they work the dough by hand before extruding it through bronze dies in the traditional manner. The pasta is then dried slowly under controlled low-temperature conditions from 24 to 92 hours depending on the shape. This slow drying leads to uniform absorption of water during cooking and a perfect ”al dente” on your plate.
