Gigantic Pasta

[Susan in FL]

We have this package of pasta, and all the labeling is in Italian. Is it bucatoni, or is bucatoni not this large? Anyway, not knowing for sure what it is, I didn't look in my recipes or online for something to cook with it. What kind of dish or what kind of sauce with it would you suggest? I was hoping the photo would show the size. It's almost two feet long.

[Mistinguett]

My mother used to make a pudding-like dish with it, eggs and crumbled feta cheese and a tablespoon or 2 of sugar, probably to balance the saltiness of the feta.

Otherwise I think you can use it any way you'd use any hollow pasta and you can break it smaller before boiling.

Funny that I was just telling my husband the other day that I haven't seen this kind of pasta around.

[jhlurie]

I wonder if you could somehow "boil" it inside a baking pan spread across two burners? Probably not, but it might be worth a shot. Two feet is STILL too long though.

[slkinsey]

This shape is called "candele" (candles). You can cook them as you would any long strand pasta, in a reasonably tall stock pot. Even though they are taller than your pot, the part in the water will soften relatively quickly so you can push them down until they are completely submerged.

You can use just about any sauce you like for strand pasta.

[Susan in FL]

Great ideas so far. I'm glad to know the name, and now I see that on the package. I am hoping to cook it without breaking it... for the novelty of it if nothing else.

Mistinguett, the pudding-like dish sounds good.

[andiesenji]

One of my friends gets this pasta from an Italian market that carries many types of bulk pasta, interestng shapes never seen in packages.

She cooks it until it is just pliable, then forms it into coils in the bottom of a buttered baking dish then adds a layer of cheeses, ricotta and fresh mozzarella,

Then some beaten egg followed by lightly drizzling this with a thin marinara sauce, then another layer of the pasta coils, another layer of cheeses and the beaten egg.

It is topped with another layer of of pasta so there are two layers of cheese, three layers of pasta, topped with more sauce.

She covers it with foil so it won't brown on top and cooks it for 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

It is turned out onto a platter so the "snails" on the bottom make a nice design.

She may line the baking dish with parchment but it has been awhile and I don't recall exactly.

The presentation is very attractive.

[MobyP]

This may be what Andie above mentioned, but you can use them to line a timbale. Cook until done, and then butter a medium sized bowl, and line the bowl with the strands of noodle, winding them around the edges, and coiling them until they meet at the centre. Then fill with goodies.

[andiesenji]

This may be what Andie above mentioned, but you can use them to line a timbale. Cook until done, and then butter a medium sized bowl, and line the bowl with the strands of noodle, winding them around the edges, and coiling them until they meet at the centre. Then fill with goodies.

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Maria makes a dessert this way, lining a small to medium pudding bowl with this type of pasta then filling it with mild and sweet cheeses broken into small pieces and mixed with sugar, eggs, candied fruit, nuts and liqueur for flavoring.

When it is turned out of the bowl it looks like an old-fashioned beehive.

When I saw the movie the Big Night it reminded me of the dessert she makes.

I have never asked her for her recipe or how she cooks it, however I think it is either placed in a bain maria or steamed.

I know she uses a lot of eggs in it because she asked me to pick up two dozen on one occasional because she had used all she had in preparing that particular dessert.

Her mom is Sicilian (surname Pugliese) and I think the recipe is actually hers.

Edited April 23, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[slkinsey]

Her mom is Sicilian (surname Pugliese) and I think the recipe is actually hers.

Er... with that name, are you sure she isn't from Puglia? A Sicilian with the last name "Pugliese" is like a New Yorker named "Bostonian."

[Septemberdog61]

We have this package of pasta, and all the labeling is in Italian.  Is it bucatoni, or is bucatoni not this large?  Anyway, not knowing for sure what it is, I didn't look in my recipes or online for something to cook with it.  What kind of dish or what kind of sauce with it would you suggest?  I was hoping the photo would show the size.  It's almost two feet long.

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This is very typical of Greek pasta used to make Pastcihio.

[Susan in FL]

Andie and Moby, I love those ideas. What a fun sounding presentation. That would really feature the not broken up pasta, if it doesn't break up in the cooking.

Septemberdog61, what is Pastcihio?

[mizducky]

Andie and Moby, I love those ideas.  What a fun sounding presentation.  That would really feature the not broken up pasta, if it doesn't break up in the cooking.

Septemberdog61, what is Pastcihio?

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Hi Susan--

I think Septemberdog61 may have meant a dish I've seen spelled as pastitsio, which I too have seen made with this kind of pasta. It's kind of a Greek answer to lasagna, only topped with a bechamel sauce like a moussaka, and spiced more like a moussaka too. Here's a recipe with pictures, including a picture and description of a pasta rather similar to the one you've got (not quite as long, but still spaghetti-length and tubular).

[Susan in FL]

Thanks, Miz! If I don't make that pastitsio this time around, I will later. That looks like a great make-ahead dish to have for company. My kids and whomever they bring along to FL with them next time will love it.

[Septemberdog61]

Andie and Moby, I love those ideas.  What a fun sounding presentation.  That would really feature the not broken up pasta, if it doesn't break up in the cooking.

Septemberdog61, what is Pastcihio?

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Sorry Susan for the confusion. Pastichio is sort of like Greek Lasgna. I will be making some next Sunday as it is Greek Easter.

The differences are as follows:

Ground lamb is used instead of beef

Bechamel sauce replaces the cheese mixture in lasgna

A dash of cinnanom is a must

As for the pasta ziti will do, but typically the macaroni product is very similar to your picture. The usual brand name is either Misko or Melissa.

[andiesenji]

Her mom is Sicilian (surname Pugliese) and I think the recipe is actually hers.

Er... with that name, are you sure she isn't from Puglia? A Sicilian with the last name "Pugliese" is like a New Yorker named "Bostonian."

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Nope, Maria's dad, who was killed in WWII, emigrated from Sicily in 1927 (age 17) and two years later sent for her mom whose maiden name was Bugatti, (no relation to the automobile).

Maria and I worked together for several years.

[Jim Dixon]

I get this pasta from Don Alfonso, and they call it candele lunghe, long candles. I once asked Ernesto Iaccarino how he cooked it. He said, "We just break it up to fit in the pot."

Jim

[Susan in FL]

We used this pasta tonight for a lasagne-like dish, taking off on the ideas posted here. I tried for the spiral effect in the pasta layers, but it didn't work out very well. Most of them broke up in the cooking, even though it started out looking good. I ended up lining up the pieces of pasta instead of putting them in circles. It tasted great, though!

[jsolomon]

I dunno, looks mighty tasty to me!

[jaynesb]

I had a funny experience cooking this kind of pasta in boiling water. I don't remember the pot size but I do remember boiling water shooting out through the pasta as it cooked!

jayne

[andiesenji]

I forgot about this thread but had spoken to my friend and asked her how she cooked the long "candele" pasta.

She told me that she used a fish poacher with the grid in the bottom so the pasta won't stick to the bottom of the pan. That way it stays intact. She cooks it until just barely al dente, otherwise if it gets too tender it will fall apart.

[Susan in FL]

I had a funny experience cooking this kind of pasta in boiling water. I don't remember the pot size but I do remember boiling water shooting out through the pasta as it cooked!

jayne

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LOL, that happened! It's hard to see, but it's doing it in the 3rd photo down. I got a kick out of that, too.

-Susan, Easily Amused

I forgot about this thread but had spoken to my friend and asked her how she cooked the long "candele" pasta. 

She told me that she used a fish poacher with the grid in the bottom so the pasta won't stick to the bottom of the pan.  That way it stays intact.  She cooks it until just barely al dente, otherwise if it gets too tender it will fall apart.

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That's a good idea, thanks.

[Carlovski]

Probably makes a fine peashooter too.....

[Susan in FL]

Yeah!

[chef koo]

just make sure that when you take the pasta out of the water that you straighten the strands and get all of the water out. if you don't you'll have excessivle watery pasta

[andiesenji]

I spoke to Maria last night and mentioned this thread - (I keep trying to get her to join eG but she says she is too busy)

She said that she lifts the strainer out of the poacher, slides the pasta onto a fairly damp dishtowel and rolls it up then picks it up and holds it vertically so the water can drain out of the interior, then empties the pan and puts the cloth-wrapped pasta back onto the drainer and places it back into the poacher with the lid on to keep it moist.

She has the dish or pan and the other ingredients ready to go and immediately starts placing the candele in the pan, starting with a central coil and adding additional coils in a petal pattern around the central one. She says to work rapidly with hands lightly oiled when handling the pasta and add some of the filling as soon as the first row of "petals" is in place to keep them from drying out.

I have seen her make this in an oval baking dish, a rectangular baking dish and a round, fairly deep Pyrex mixing bowl (one of the old style that came in primary colors).

The coils are about 4-5 inches in diameter as the pasta flattens somewhat during baking.