Busiate (or busiati) are a type of long macaroni, originally from the Trapani province, and typical from Calabria and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in Italy. They take their name from , the Sicilian word for the stem of '' Ampelodesmos mauritanicus'', a local

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

, which is used in preparing them and giving them their

helical Helical may refer to: * Helix, the mathematical concept for the shape * Helical engine, a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive * Helical spring, a coilspring * Helical plc, a British property company, once a maker of steel bar stock * Helicoil A t ...

shape. The name ''busiate'' can be used to describe two different shapes, although the basic coiling technique is similar: * are traditionally prepared by diagonally coiling a strand of pasta around a

twig A twig is a thin, often short, branch of a tree or bush. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away. The color, texture, and patterning of the twig bark ar ...

of ''ampelodesmos''. * are coiled vertically around a long pin, such as a knitting needle. Their shape is closer to that of

bucatini Bucatini (), also known as perciatelli (), are a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. They are common throughout Lazio, particularly Rome. The similar ziti are long hollow rods which are also smooth in texture an ...

Busiate are traditionally served with '' pesto alla trapanese'', a sauce made of almonds,

tomatoes The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, garlic and

basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also k ...

Notes and references

{{Pasta Types of pasta Cuisine of Sicily Trapani