Just Cooked: Giuliana Rancic’s (Mama DePandi’s) Bucatini Recipe

When your friends bring you pasta straight from Italy, you do it justice. We turned to Giuliana Rancic’s mom’s bucatini recipe. We had watched Mama DePandi give her daughter directions on how to make it on “Giuliana and Bill” and it looked pretty easy, so we gave it a shot. Instead of bucatini pasta, we used the pappardelle and the olive oil Brandon and Steve got us while in Tuscany last month.

What You’ll Need

• 1 big can of tomatoes

• 1 onion chopped

• 4 cloves of garlic minced

• 1 tablespoon of sugar

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

• 1 pinch of dried chilli peppers

• 4 sprigs of basil for cooking; extra sprigs for garnish

• Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions

• Prep work: Crush the canned tomatoes in a large bowl. Chop the onion. Mince the garlic. Heat a pot of water to boil.

• For the pomodoro sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pot. Cook the onions for 5 minutes. Then, add the garlic (save a little for later); cook for 1 minute. Then, add the sauce, sugar and salt. Add 4 basil sprigs. Simmer until the sauce reduces.

• For the pasta: Boil the pasta with some salt.

• Combine the sauce and pasta: Remove the basil that was cooking in the sauce. In a large pan, cook 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a little minced garlic and a pinch of dried chilli peppers. Add the pasta (no water); toss. Add the sauce mixture; toss.

• Almost done: Serve with a dusting of Parmesan cheese, a pinch of kosher salt and fresh basil sprigs on top.

We shared the end result with our gifters, Brandon and Steve, and success! We’re all fans. If you need some protein, fry a couple of chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste; slice and serve on top of the pasta.

We hope you try it, but know that you will have to wash a lot of dishes. This is not a one-pot dish like Jesse and I are used to.