Pici are a typical variety of pasta made from flour and water, with an elongated shape (almost like spaghettoni) of about 30 centimeters’ length, and about as wide as bucatini pasta. This particular variety hails from Siena, but is also widespread throughout Tuscany. There are two traditional recipes - one with flour, water and salt, and the other with the addition of one egg for a more compact consistency with a golden hue. Authentic pici are made from scratch, and worked by hand with open palms in the area near the fingertips, using a special technique called ‘appiciare’ in Italian, meaning ‘to stick’ in English (hence the pasta’s given name of pici).
Pici are usually seasoned with a sauce made with guanciale, tomatoes, Tuscan pecorino cheese and toasted breadcrumbs. They are also excellent with duck, or with a garlic sauce made from a specific variety of garlic recognized by the Slow Food Presidium, with a larger shape than the more common garlic, and a less strong (and therefore more delicate) taste.
Salsa all’aglione (Aglione garlic sauce)
Ready to make the above-mentioned garlic sauce to pair with homemade pici pasta?
Ingredients
6 tomatoes
6 slices of garlic
Red chili pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Method
Blanch the tomatoes in plenty of salted water for 2-3 minutes. Drain and let cool before peeling them. Slowly fry the extra-virgin olive oil in a pan with the peeled and crushed (or finely chopped) garlic slices and the seeds of one red chili pepper. Let the garlic brown slowly until it almost melts into the oil. In the meantime, peel the tomatoes, cut them in half, and remove any seeds. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the garlic to cook for about 20 minutes, or until they can be reduced down to a purée.
Homemade pici egg pasta
Our special recipe for traditional pici pasta.
Ingredients
150 g durum wheat flour
350 g type “00” flour
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 egg
200 ml warm water
1 pinch of salt
Method
Form a fountain shape on a pastry board with the two flours. Crack the egg into the center, add salt and then a little water. Start working the dough with a fork, stirring until the flour is completely mixed into the other ingredients. Add the rest of the water a little at a time to soften the dough. Continue kneading with your hands. Once the dough is smooth and firm, let it rest for about 30 minutes. Then roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about one centimeter thick. Cut some strips of dough with a knife and start rolling them out with the palm of your hands until you have long strands of dough (what we call ‘vermicelli’ in Italian). Once ready, transfer each dough strand to a baking sheet covered with a little corn flour so they don’t stick together. Make sure to cover the dough with a cloth after cutting each strip to form the strands – otherwise, it might dry out. Then cook the pici pasta for 2-3 minutes in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain and transfer to the pan with the garlic sauce. Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes. Serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. (And a handful of grated pecorino cheese – the Tuscan variety, of course.)