Who knew that Bucatini could be a controversial pasta? Or that Olive Sunshine’s Bucatini Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp is a controversial recipe. So controversial in fact that I am writing a blog about my decision to share this recipe. It is the Bucatini that makes it controversial. Let me start by saying, this dish can be made with any pasta. Despite the flexibility, I am consciously deciding to add the descriptor of Bucatini to my recipe title. Why? I believe tomato sauces, made famous in Rome, is perfect for Bucatini pasta.
In 2016, I spent three weeks in Italy with my Sweetheart on our honeymoon. The first week was spent luxuriously vacationing in Taormina and the Amalfi Coast. Just about the time we were truly loosening up and relaxing, we arrived in the hustle and bustle of Rome. Being in Rome is very different than being seaside in other areas of Italy.
Bucatini in the Piazza di Trevi
My first dish in Rome was after an adventurous day that started on a train. Losing our newly purchased Italian cell phone on the train, locating our phone in Turin, Italy with the help of Facebook and a new Italian friend, finding a conductor willing to return the phone to us in Rome when he returned, but thwarted by unhelpful train staff and the Italian police made for a long day. Finally giving up hope of recovering the phone, we decided to salvage the night by exploring the area and filling our bellies. After all, we were staying in a hotel in the sought after area, Piazza di Trevi, and that should not be wasted. We were scheduled to go on a wine tasting bicycle tour in the Tuscan mountains the next morning and little did we know the stamina we would need for that event.
Three years before we started the Mediterranean Diet!
It was almost 11 p.m. and we were famished. We wondered the streets until we found a restaurant still serving. Not expecting much due to the hour and being in what we considered a “tourist” area, we each ordered a simple meal. The menu written in Italian, I was hoping not to be the pesky American tourist (as the restaurant was closing), so I ordered what I could pick out easily – pasta and tomatoes. It turned out to be my first time having Bucatini with Pomodoro sauce. In my travels while in Italy I learned two things. First, every restaurant we visited in Italy worked to present the best meal possible regardless of price and location. Second, simple pasta and sauce is an art in Italy.
Decisions, Decisions – Sauce and Pasta
Italians take the matching of the pasta with sauce seriously. The size and shape of the pasta can greatly influence the taste and texture of the dish. Fresh pasta, dry pasta, long pasta and short pasta there is much to consider when determining which type of pasta to select. Bucatini is a long pasta, that is hollow in the middle.
Bucatini is a very popular pasta to serve with red sauce in Roma. Now that I make it myself, I love to prepare it al dente and serve it with the simple and perfectly understated Pomodoro sauce reminiscent of my dish in Rome that eventful night. I use a dry Bucatini because it has a firm texture ensuring the hallow “tube” in the middle stays put (also because I have not mastered making any handmade pasta so complex). Bucatini holds it shape and the sauce.
Bucatini – A Controversial Pasta
The controversy is not just that pasta choices are a deeply personal decision. It also is not that Bucatini was on a shortage (much like toilet paper) during the Covid closures. The reason this blog about Bucatini pasta is controversial is the pasta itself. Bucatini is usually made with Durham flour. It is very hard to purchase (or make) whole grain Bucatini pasta, even when you buy it (as I do) directly from Italy via Amazon. The Mediterranean Diet focuses on whole grains, and Olive Sunshine is a blog about the Mediterranean Diet. Do you see the controversy?
It is very challenging to find whole grain bucatini. Durham wheat is better for you than white flour. More processed than whole grain, Durham is not recommended by Mediterranean Diet purists. I do not say purist in a dismissive way. I strive to be true to the Mediterranean Diet. Obviously I am passionate about the Mediterranean Diet since it is the basis of my blog. I just feel the risk is worth the reward. In my opinion, using Durham Wheat pasta every now and again is not a full departure of this way of eating. It is a choice; albeit, maybe not ideal. I just want to be sure that all my Olive Sunshine readers understand the risk I am advising when I share my recipe Bucatini Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp.
Bucatini Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp
Despite the risk, I am sticking with my decision to name my recipe Bucatini Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp. Why? Because I eat it and I want to be honest with my readers about my journey. You can feel free to use any pasta you desire and it would be best if that pasta were whole grain! For me, and my house, this occasional dish will be made with Durham wheat Bucatini from Italy. I will not see it as cheating, but rather slighlty deviating. Whew, now that I have fully disclosed the risk you may be taking I can get to the recipe.
What can I say? It is an amazing and easy to prepare dish, al dente pasta homemade, tangy Pomodoro sauce and sautéed shrimp. I highly suggest a glass of your favorite chianti. When I eat Bucatini Pasta Pomodoro with Shrimp I feel like I am back in Rome eating dinner with my Sweetheart at the restaurant in the Piazza di Trevi. Amazing how a meal can invoke such lovely memories.
Arrivederci (until next time),
