One-Pan Bucatini with Leeks and Lemon

I used cavatappi and a little bit more water because it's so curly. It was absolutely perfect!!! This will definitely be my go-to leek and pasta recipe. Love it!

Way too much salt. Leeks are sweet and the salt called for in this recipe overwhelms the sweet taste of the leeks. Yes, when you boil pasta separately the water has to be salty. Less so when you’re cooking everything in the same pan because all that salt stays there. After making this recipe several times, half the amount of salt called for is about right and let’s the sweet taste of the leeks shine and it’s enhanced by the brightness of the lemon.

As soon as I put this on the stove to boil I thought it would be a mess and not turn out - but it was absolutely delicious! The leeks get perfectly tender and the kick from the pepper flakes was perfect. Definitely will be making again.

This was delicious, plated nicely, and was so simple to make on a weeknight. I followed the instructions as given, using regular Barilla bucatini (not the Collezione line). My husband and I thought the sauce and seasoning was perfect without adding any additional salt/pepper/pepper flakes per step 4. We did top it with some Parmigiano Reggiano, as suggested, and that was a nice finishing touch. The leftovers heated up beautifully for lunch today. This recipe is going into my permanent collection, and I plan to use it with company. Thank you so much for sharing!

It worked just fine with a short pasta (I also went with the Barilla Collezione line, but used the orecchiette). I served it alongside some leftover meat.

Wow, loved this! We really enjoyed the spicy of the kick of the red pepper flakes along with the brightness that the lemon rind provided. I shaved some pecorino romano in it and then divided all the pasta in two at the end. On one half, I added a dash of heavy cream - I felt like the dish was just begging to have a light alfredo sauce as part of it. (I was also taking this out to my mom, who loves creamy pasta.) The other half stayed as the original one listed here. We just loved this. Dreaming of making this again, maybe with shrimp or small turkey meatballs.

Has anybody tried to cut this recipe in half? Or any of the other one-pot pasta recipes? I've always been curious about the one-pot method but, being single, I don't want to make four servings. Cutting it would allow for a meal and lunch the next day.

Really good and worked just as the recipe said. Had my doubts about the amount of sauce I would have in the bottom of the pot.
good, fast and easy!!

What many believe this technique originates with Martha Stewart, it goes back a long way, to a traditional Neaopolitan method. First published in "Italian Family Cooking,"(1978) and also in "Eat Right, Eat Well" (1985) both written by Edward Giobbi. He describes:" in 1971 we took a train from Frankfort to Munich -- there was only one other passenger... it was clear from his accent that he was from Naples. He was a factory worker in Germany and he missed his family and Napolitan cooking. I don't think we talked more than three minutes before we were on the subject of food He became more animated as he described his favorite dishes........I knew immediately I was about to get a great recipe. He proceeded to describe, in the most poetic way, the following recipe in expressive Napolitan dialect..... I just could not believe it was possible to cook raw pasta with raw vegetablesn a very small amount of water. I was convinced though when he clasped his hands, rolled his eyes, and exclaimed in
beautiful Napolitano dialect 'It's so good it hurts!' And, though this one seemed to break all the rules, I knew it had to be good." You will find Giobbi's recipe "Spaghettini with broccoletti di rape" and others using this napoliten technique in both aforementioned cookery books. Try it along with the many other delicious recipes in his excellent and charmingly written books.

I used 3/4 lb Barilla bucatini with 4 cups water. I doubled the olive oil and gently sautéed the leeks, garlic, and red pepper before adding the water and pasta. When the pasta was almost cooked I added 1/2 lb blanched, pencil-thin asparagus. By the time the pasta was cooked, the asparagus were heated through and a small amount of light sauce was present at the bottom of the pan. I tossed parsley and grated lemon peel with Parmesan served at the table.

works well with 16 oz of pasta, 8 oz sliced mushrooms, and 4.5 c water

Yep. I had a gummy, starchy sauce - not good :( I used dried Bucatini from a local Italian restaurant. The noodles will definitely make a difference. I'm going to try it again sautéing the garlic, leeks and chile, adding it to the pasta after the pasta has cooked separately, then tossing it all together with some olive oil, salt, parmesan and lemon juice/grated rind afterward,

I made this largely out of curiosity regarding the 'one pan' approach. Unfortunately I had the same result many people reported from Stewart's original recipe - a tasty but rather gummy sauce, in this case featuring a lot of boiled leeks. I'd assume that simply sautéing the leeks, garlic and chile whilst the pasta cooks separately will result in a more elegant dish. I have, however, had great success with Smitten Kitchen's recipe for one-pan farro so it would be interesting to try these flavours with that method.

I love this method Ali! You rock!

I fell in love with Martha's one pan pasta after seeing it on this site. Your version looks awesome. We'll have it tomorrow night.

I might try this with Aleppo pepper to up the citrusy component.