Piccagge is a type of homemade pasta very common in Liguria. Their shape is very similar to fettuccine (piccagge in dialect) but they are a little wider and are made by mixing white flour with chestnut flour, once the main food of Genoa hinterland and ideal to enrich wheat flour.
They can be seasoned with pesto - as Ligurian tradition dictates - or with a meat or fish sauce: piccagge is a very versatile pasta and, since eggs also appear in the recipe, it’s a very penetrable type of first course, ideal to go with sauces.
How to prepare Ligurian piccagge pasta
Here's a recipe for homemade piccagge.
Ingredients
7 oz chestnut flour, 11 oz flour, 3 whole eggs
Method
The preparation of piccagge pasta begins by mixing the two types of flour, then add the whole eggs, a pinch of salt and about ½ cup of just warm water. Knead the mixture until it is uniform, and the right consistency then let it rest for about half an hour.
With the help of a rolling pin, create a thin sheet of pasta and cut fettuccine (piccagge) about 1.5 cm wide. Before cooking it in plenty of salted water, the dough should be left to dry for another half hour on a cutting board with flour. It can be seasoned as mentioned, with traditional pesto, or with a sea bass sauce or with a tasty walnut sauce.
How to make walnut sauce
To prepare it you’ll need: 4 oz shelled walnuts, 2 oz grated Grana Padano cheese, ½ cup liquid cream, 1 tablespoon pine nuts, garlic, marjoram, and salt. Just blend the ingredients in a blender, adding it only at the end. The walnut cream must be very thick and should be diluted during the creaming of the piccagge pasta with a little cooking water.