Bucatini Pie | Rich, Decadent, Delicious

Love at First Sight

I first encountered spaghetti pie on Martha Stewart’s cooking show years ago. It was a recipe ostensibly developed by Martha’s friend Eleanora.

Martha told us Eleanora came up with it as a way to use up leftovers, but I don’t know anyone who calls 12 oz of sopressata “leftovers.” Regardless, I dreamed about making this pie for years.

I have no idea what took me so long to finally get around to making it.

It’s not hard to make. In fact, it’s really easy, but for some reason, I just never got around to it. Until I finally did. And it was so worth the wait.

Don’t be like me and wait forever before trying this stuff, friends.

Why Use Bucatini Instead of Spaghetti?

Aside from being my favorite long pasta shape, there are a few reasons to use bucatini rather than spaghetti:

• Bucatini, with its chewy texture, gives the dish a bit more substance
• the cheesy, eggy “batter” sort of slides its way in between the noodles and into their hollow centers, so when the pie sets up, it slices beautifully.

I did make a few changes to the original recipe, which is linked to the recipe card. I don’t think Eleanora will mind that I upgraded her recipe to bucatini pie!

How to Make Bucatini Pie

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Bucatini Pasta: This is the long pasta shape that gives the “chew” to the pie. Bucatini is one of my favorite shapes, and I also feature it in my lemon garlic pasta recipe
• Mozzarella Cheese: provides some stretch and chew
• Ricotta Cheese: clean, sweet milkiness and body. Substitute small curd cottage cheese if you prefer
• Parmesan Cheese: Adds a sharp, nuttiness
• Asiago Cheese: Ditto. You may use all Parm or all Asiago if you prefer not to use both
• Eggs: Binds the mixture as well as adding some protein and emulsifiers. The eggs are what make this a custard.
• Whole Milk: Thins the custard to a pourable consistency
• salt and pepper: Salt and pepper, to taste. I also call for Italian seasoning, but it is optional. The stars of this show are really the cheesy custard and the pasta. Serve with marinara, and you’ll get plenty of basil and oregano in each bite
• Sopressata: This is a type of cured salami. You can substitute your favorite diced salami or even use pepperoni or crumbled bacon or pancetta

As you can tell, what we’re making is pretty much a 4-cheese macaroni and cheese. The only real difference is there is a lot more pasta than there is cheesy sauce.

Plus it has more eggs in it than a traditional mac and cheese would have. This allows it to set up well enough to be sliced cleanly.

How to Make This Pie

This is a pretty easy pie to make, and the payoff is that you’ll have an excellent and unexpected star for a brunch (or dinner)!

1. Cook the pasta to al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, reserve some of the mozzarella and then combine all the custard ingredients together so they’re evenly combined.
3. Stir in the soppressata.
4. Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water so the eggs in the custard don’t start cooking.
5. Fold the pasta and cheese mixture together as evenly as you can.
6. Pan up the pie, cover with foil, and bake. Remove the foil after 40 minutes.
7. Add remaining mozzarella, and broil until golden-brown and delicious.

Making the Marinara

Of course, you can serve this with your favorite marinara or even vodka sauce.

I do rather love the intensely tomato-y and reduced sauce I made especially to serve with this pie, though.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• olive oil & butter: These are the two fats that will carry flavor. The butter will brown during cooking, lending an underlying nuttiness that goes really well with the caramelized garlic
• garlic: This is the aromatic in the recipe, lending both its pungency as well as sweetness, thanks to long cooking and caramelization
• canned Italian tomatoes: During cooking, the tomatoes will reduce, darken in color, and deepen in flavor. You’ll be amazed at what a long cooking time can do to a handful of simple ingredients
• salt & pepper: Simple seasonings to bring out all the flavors while letting them shine
• pepper flake: optional, but lovely if you like your sauce to have a bit of bite

To make the marinara, crush the garlic and cook in the oil and butter over medium heat until it begins to get a little golden.

Add the tomatoes, a little salt and pepper, and pepper flake, if desired.

Cook over medium-high, breaking up the tomatoes and reducing until very thick and brick red in color.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve it hot or warm alongside your delicious bucatini.

Bucatini Pie Making Equipment

There’s not really any specialty equipment you need to make this recipe, so the good news is that if you purchase (or already own) any of these recommendations, you can use them for many purposes.

I think there is no better tool for grating hard cheese (and ginger and garlic and lemon zest and nutmeg and…) than a Microplane. I use mine all the time, and I consider it pretty indispensable too.

I made my pie in a springform pan. They’re also great for cheesecakes and no-bake desserts or even for baking traditional cake layers.

Variations

To make this a vegetarian bucatini pie, you can simply leave out the soppressata, or consider substituting diced, oil-packed sundried tomatoes or small Italian olives.

Also feel free to substitute other cheeses for the accents of Parm and Asiago. Smoked cheeses would bring a really tasty added dimension.

Serving Suggestions

Since this is a really rich, mellow, and filling dish, pair it with a simple side salad with a bright vinaigrette or maybe some cucumber salad or a vinegar-based slaw.

If you’d like to serve some bread with this, consider a simple focaccia with some oil and flaky salt for dipping.

Bucatini Pie Q & A

Questions?

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

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03/31/2025 08:42 am GMT

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Bucatini Pie with Marinara Sauce

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Jennifer Field

This hearty and filling bucatini pie is pure comfort. Served with a side of intense tomato sauce, this dish is perfect to feed a crowd on game day or any day. The marinara is a mash-up between Marcella Hazan’s beloved recipe and a great one from Fabio Viviani. It’s what I use for everything from spaghetti to pizza sauce.

5 from 2 votes

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Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Hearty Pasta Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8 -12

Ingredients

For the Bucatini Pie

• 1 pound dried Bucatini (or your favorite long pasta shape)
• 1 pound mozzarella cheese , shredded plus another 2-3 oz for topping after baking (you can use pre-shredded–I did–but the pie will be gooier in a good way if you shred it yourself)
• 8 oz ricotta cheese (either part skim or whole milk)
• 2 oz each finely shredded Parmesan Reggiano (or Grana) and Asiago (or you can use 4 oz of either)
• 4 large eggs , beaten
• 4 oz (1/2 cup) milk (I used whole milk. Use what you have)
• about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt , to taste
• about 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , to taste
• about 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix/seasoning , to taste
• 6 oz sopressata , small dice (regular or hot, or sub in cooked and crumbled hot Italian sausage or even pepperoni)

For the Marinara

• 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic , lightly bruised/sort of crushed
• 1 28- oz can whole tomatoes including the juices (San Marzano preferred)
• about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt , to taste
• about 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper , to taste
• pepper flake (optional, depending if you want the sauce to have a bit of kick or not)

Instructions

 

For the Bucatini Pie

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Spray a 9″ or 10″ springform pan (or deep cake pan) with pan spray. Put a circle of parchment in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt it well and cook the pasta to al dente. While the pasta is cooking, mix up the cheesy goodness.
• In a large bowl, evenly and thoroughly combine the 1 pound of mozzarella, ricotta, Parm, Asiago, beaten eggs, milk and seasonings.
• Fold in the sopressata very well so it is evenly distributed. Set aside
• When the pasta is al dente, drain and run some cold water over it. You don’t want to chill it, but you do want to take the edge of the heat so your eggs don’t cook too soon. Drain the pasta very well after rinsing.
• Gently but thoroughly stir the bucatini into the cheesy goodness. It will take some doing because the cheese mixture is pretty stodgy. That’s okay. Keep at it until everything is nicely combined.
• Scoop the cheesy pasta into the prepared pan, trying to spread it as evenly as possible. Press it down a bit so there are no big gaps or air pockets. Cover the pan with foil.
• Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
• Evenly sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and broil for 2-4 minutes, watching carefully, until you have a lovely, bubbly top with lots of dark golden brown crispy spots.
• Remove from oven and run a knife around the outside of the pan. Allow to cool about 10-15 minutes and then remove the sides of the pan.
• Serve hot or warm, or even at room temperature, with a side of the marinara sauce, which you either made ahead or made while the bucatini pie was in the oven, right?

For the Marinara

• Over medium heat, melt the butter and oil together. When the butter is sputtering, add the garlic.
• Swirl the pan and watch carefully. You want the garlic to turn a medium golden-to dark-ish brown but not burn, so be careful. When it starts to go, it goes fast.
• When the garlic has some lovely color on it, pour in the tomatoes all at once. Add the salt, pepper and optional pepper flake. Chances are it will taste a little flat at this point, but you’ll be reducing this for a long time so under-seasoning is preferred. You can correct at the end if necessary.
• Cook the tomatoes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes into smaller and smaller chunks, until the sauce is very thick and is starting to stick to the bottom of the pan a bit. It will also darken in color to a deep, intense reddish-orange. This whole process could take 45 minutes or so, so don’t rush things.
• Once the sauce is thick and perfect, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• Serve hot or warm with the bucatini pie, or use it for pretty much whatever you want.

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Thanks for joining me today for a hearty slice of bucatini pie with a side of intense marinara sauce. I know you will love it.

Take care, and have a lovely day.

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