Boil the bucatini in 4 to 5 cups of salted water. (We like to add about a tablespoon of sea salt or table salt.) If necessary, gently bend the pasta so that it's completely submerged. Cook per instructions on the pasta box.
Heat a 10-12" pan to medium about 4 minutes before the pasta is ready.
Just before removing the cooked pasta, transfer 3 to 4 ladlefuls of pasta water (about 1.5 cups) into the finishing pan.
Use tongs to transfer the pasta to the finishing pan. If you choose to use a colander to drain the pasta first, reserve about 1 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta.
Mix the bucatini with the starchy pasta water until the a starchy liquid forms. Remove from heat.
Add the Pecorino Romano and mix until the sauce is creamy.
Once the pasta and sauce are done, mix in a generous amount of ground black pepper to taste.
Grate additional Pecorino Romano on the top of the pasta as desired.
Eat!
Pro Tips
You can grind the pepper ahead of cooking. If you grind pepper at the last step as we do, we recommend using a large pepper grinder.
If you serve this recipe as a starter, it should serve 4 people.
You can double this recipe to serve 4 main dishes.