Venetian Bigoli: Recipes to Try at Home
Recipes featuring bigoli, the Venetian spaghetti that's so popular.
Let's discover together what type of pasta it is, how to make it at home, and how to cook it. Plus, lots of recipes with bigoli, for rich and delicious first courses.
Among the most searched recipes on Google in 2023 are recipes featuring bigoli—typical round spaghetti, whose homemade pasta was pressed using a pasta press. They're so popular around here that the expression "andare per bigoli" once meant "to go to a good lunch." They're similar in shape to thick spaghetti, though thicker and rougher. In fact, the distinctive feature of bigoli is their rough texture, which allows them to hold sauces well.
Where do bigoli originate from?
Bigoli are part of Venetian culinary history. Traditionally, they were made by hand at home using a special machine called a "bigolaro." Today, the pasta can also be made with a pasta machine, although it can also be easily purchased pre-made.
A pasta shape closely linked to the local area, there are several festivals and celebrations dedicated to bigoli—for example, the Festa dei Bigoi al Torcio in Limena every year in the last week of April.
How to make bigoli at home?
To make bigoli at home, the traditional recipe calls for a dough made from soft wheat flour, water, and salt. There's also a version made with eggs, which makes a truly remarkable egg pasta. The ratio is 400 grams of 00 flour to 4 eggs and water. While traditionally the dough was pressed, today bigoli can be made with a modern trick: passing the dough through a meat grinder or potato masher—although it's obvious the result won't be optimal.
How to season bigoli?
Bigoli are the ideal pasta shape for a rustic, traditional first course. They're often paired with thick, flavorful sauces, such as meat ragù, duck ragù, or fish sauce.
