Bucatini pasta with pesto made Sicilian style, with almonds, sun-dried tomatoes and creamy burrata cheese. The almonds add a delectable, coarse texture to the sauce, almost like crunchy breadcrumbs.

Bowl of thick bucatini pasta noodles with roasted tomatoes and almond pesto sauce, topped with creamy mozzarella cheese.

Bucatini is shaped like chubby spaghetti, but it has a hole in the middle (perciatelli is another name for the same pasta).

The best sauces for bucatini match the chewy nature of the pasta — hearty and full of texture. When I was visiting Rome, I fell for this classic bucatini all’amatriciana, an unforgettable spicy tomato sauce with pancetta.

Add an extra layer of savory umami to this pasta by tossing in these slow-roasted tomatoes.

4.73 from 11 ratings

Bucatini Pasta with Almond Pesto

Karen Tedesco
Bucatini pasta with pesto made Sicilian style, with almonds, sun-dried tomatoes and creamy burrata cheese. The almonds add a delectable, coarse texture to the sauce, almost like crunchy breadcrumbs.
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Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients
 

Almond Pesto

  • ½ cup (71.5 g) whole almonds, toasted for 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven
  • ¾ cup (150 g) moist sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 cup (loosely packed) (60 g) Italian parsley leaves
  • 1 cup (loosely packed) (60 g) fresh basil leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red chili pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (75 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup (115 g) grated pecorino Romano cheese

Pasta

  • 1 pound (450 g) dried bucatini pasta
  • 4 ounces (125 g) burrata cheese
  • Grated pecorino Romano cheese and fresh basil and/or parsley leaves, optional, for garnish

Instructions
 

Make the pesto

  1. Pulse the almonds in a food processor for a few seconds until they’re roughly chopped.
  2. Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, garlic, chili and salt and pulse to a rough paste. Add the olive oil and continue to process until the sauce is like crunchy almond butter. You want small pieces of almond in there so don't go overboard. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and stir in the cheese.

Make the pasta

  1. Bring a large (5- 6 quart) pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt. 
  2. Cook the pasta until it’s al dente. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta.
  3. Mix ½ cup of the pasta water into the pesto until it forms a creamy, saucy consistency, adding more water a little at a time if it's too thick. Add the hot pasta to the bowl and toss with the sauce.
  4. Tear the burrata into pieces and distribute over the pasta (it will be too soft to slice). Sprinkle the pasta with a little more grated Romano cheese and some of the herb leaves, if you like.

Notes

  • If you don’t have bucatini, this pesto sauce would be great on rigatoni or even spaghetti.
  • Buffalo or fresh mozzarella balls make an excellent substitute for burrata cheese.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 867kcal Carbohydrates: 106g Protein: 32g Fat: 39g Sodium: 464mg Fiber: 11g Sugar: 12g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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